Alibaba to invest over $100 mln in China’s Mei.com — source

Beijing: Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is investing more than $100 million in Mei.com, a “flash sales” platform for luxury and fashion goods, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.

Alibaba had said earlier on Wednesday it would form a team within its Tmall business-to-consumer platform to help Mei.com expand its user base, product offerings, logistics and IT infrastructure, but did not disclose the size of its investment. The investment could help Alibaba expand its luxury goods offerings in China and burnish its reputation with foreign brands, especially luxury makers, with whom there can still be friction over intellectual property-infringing products on the Chinese group’s shopping sites.