UC Web joins Alibaba in China’s biggest internet merger till date

UC Browser maker UCWeb has announced that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will acquire the shares of mobile browser firm that it does not currently hold in what the firms are calling to be China’s biggest internet merger in history. Before the current deal, Alibaba already had around 66 percent stake in UCWeb. The companies have not shared financial details of the transaction.

UCWeb has stated that after the acquisition, Alibaba and UCWeb will form UCWeb Mobile Business Group. According to a report in Reuters, UCWeb CEO Yu Yongfu will act as the chairman of this business group and will also be a part of Alibaba’s “strategic decision-making committee.”

According to UCWeb press release, the business group will work on internet browsers, search services, location-based services, the mobile gaming platform, mobile application distribution and mobile literature services.

This merger will give Alibaba a boost as it attempts to move beyond mainland China as UCWeb has had success in that regard. UC Browser is currently the top third-party browser in the Indian market and it is also popular in Indonesia, Vietnam and Russia.