Internet auctioneer eBay Inc may sell its Chinese eBay Eachnet unit to Tom Group in exchange for shares of the media group.

Tom.com, a leading wireless Internet company in China, is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing eBay is likely to pay Tom Group another US$200 million or US$300 million for a stake in the Hong Kong-listed company. PayPal, eBay's Internet payment service system, will also be involved in the deal.

Tom Online's profit in the third quarter of this year reached US$5.28 million, dropping 55.1 percent from a quarter earlier, and 59 percent down from a year earlier.

The group needs to expand its business scope to stimulate profit, so the buyout is expected to enlarge its market share on the Chinese mainland.

EBay bought one-third of Eachnet's stake for US$30 million in 2002. It spent another US$150 million on the remaining shares of Eachnet in 2003.

However, shortly after that, eBay Eachnet's share in the consumer-to-consumer market went down because of competition from taobao.com.

Source:佚名