Home China Baidu expands in streaming market with YY Live purchase

Baidu expands in streaming market with YY Live purchase

Ding Yining

Chinese search giant Baidu said it will spend approximately US$3.6 billion in cash to acquire YY Live, JOYY’s domestic video-based entertainment livestreaming business.

This marks the Chinese firm’s biggest foray into the growing market of social sites and video-streaming.

The transaction is expected to accelerate YY Live’s business growth and unlock more value across the domestic entertainment livestreaming sector.

YY Live has about 4 million paying subscribers who watch influencers and livestreamers perform and sell a range of items on the video app.

“This transaction will catapult Baidu into a leading platform for livestreaming and diversify our revenue source,” said Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu.

“YY Live stands to benefit from Baidu’s large traffic and thriving mobile ecosystem, while Baidu will receive immediate operational experience and knowhow for large-scale video-based social media development,” he added.

The closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2021.

Read more in Shanghai Daily

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