《TAIPEI TIMES》Uni-President, Yahoo joint venture receives green light

Staff writer, with CNA

The Fair Trade Commission （FTC） has approved a strategic partnership between Taiwan-based food conglomerate Uni-President Enterprises Corp （統一企業） and Hong Kong’s Yahoo Taiwan Holdings Ltd （雅虎資訊）, Uni-President said in a statement on Wednesday.

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Under the deal, Uni-President is to take an 80 percent stake in Yahoo’s e-commerce business in Taiwan, the company said.

Yahoo would retain the other 20 percent in the US$100 million e-commerce joint venture, which would continue to use Yahoo Taiwan’s e-commerce brand, it said.

The company’s remarks came after the FTC announced earlier on Wednesday that it had decided not to prohibit the deal by citing Article 13 of the Fair Trade Act （公平交易法）.

In February, Uni-President announced that its subsidiary Cayman President Holdings Ltd spent US$25 million to acquire Yahoo Taiwan corporate bonds.

The company said it had put a wide range of products on Yahoo’s e-commerce platform for many years and that the two sides have forged close business ties.

Uni-President chairman Alex Lo （羅智先） said recently that the food conglomerate generated NT$580 billion （US$17.8 billion） in sales last year, mainly from physical stores, with only 0.5 percent of its sales coming from online stores.

This shows there is plenty of room for growth in the e-commerce sector, Lo said, adding that the company decided to form an alliance with Yahoo to gain a better understanding of e-commerce operations.

Asia Yahoo general manager Pete Wong （黃吉樂） said the joint venture is aimed at market expansion by using Yahoo’s experience in big data and digital operations, and building on Uni-President’s success at providing a comprehensive consumer experience through lifestyle essentials.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES