06-05-2006, 10:39 AM
Quote:eBay and PChome Online to Form Joint Venture in Taiwan
eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) and PChome Online (TWO: 8044) announced today that they have agreed to form a joint venture in Taiwan. Under the agreement, the companies will leverage eBay's global experience and PChome Online's local ecommerce expertise to launch a new co-branded website that will bring new online trading opportunities to buyers and sellers in Taiwan.
Focused on the needs of Taiwan consumers, the new website will specialize in online auction-style trading and will also offer the ability to buy and sell at a fixed price. eBay and PChome Online will share best practices to develop a new shopping experience that offers enhanced features to the Taiwan Internet community. The new website will be managed locally by PChome Online and will replace both PChome Online's existing auction channel and the eBay Taiwan site.
"This partnership is a remarkable milestone for PChome Online," said Hung Tze Jan, chairman of PChome Online. "eBay is one of the world's most recognized ecommerce brands and PChome Online is an Internet pioneer with great successes in Taiwan ecommerce. Together, we can create a new online trading site that caters to the needs of Taiwan's Internet users."
"We're excited about teaming up with PChome Online," said Matt Bannick, president of eBay International. "PChome Online is the right partner to help us transform online shopping in Taiwan. We look forward to working together for the benefit of our local communities of users."
Launched in 1998, PChome Online is the number two Internet portal and the leading ecommerce website in Taiwan. A pioneer of Taiwan ecommerce with more than 10 million members, PChome Online offers a full range of shopping services, including a traditional retail channel, a business-to-consumer shopping channel, and a consumer-to-consumer auction-style site. PChome Online's shopping sites feature an array of products including women's clothing and accessories, consumer electronics, software and books. In addition, PChome Online is the local partner of Skype, eBay's online voice communications business.
eBay does not expect the joint venture to have a material impact on 2006 net revenues and earnings per share, and does not expect it to affect eBay's financial guidance as issued in connection with its first quarter earnings release on April 19, 2006.
The joint venture agreement is subject to various closing conditions and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
No further terms of the agreement were disclosed.
About PChome Online
PChome Online was established in 1998 and has grown to be a benchmark Internet service provider in Taiwan with more than 10 million members. PChome Online offers a comprehensive suite of services including an Internet portal, ecommerce platform and telecommunications offering. According to a survey published by Market Intelligence Center (MIC) in January 2006, PChome has a 23 percent share of the online shopping market, making it the number one ecommerce platform in Taiwan. PChome Online and Skype formed a partnership in 2004 to launch a co-branded service in Taiwan. PChome Online became the first publicly-listed Internet company in Taiwan when it went public in January 2005.
full press release: http://investor.ebay.com/ReleaseDetail.c...eID=199313&FYear=
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