Priceline.com and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. Wednesday named
their own price for an alliance to bring the patented Web service to Asia.
The duo will ply the name-your-price e-commerce format in China, Hong Kong,
India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand,
Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Japan, however, does not fit
into the plan.
The two will create a new company which will be licensed by Priceline.com (PCLN)
for regional business. Priceline will add its technology and marketing
resources to the venture, while Hutchison will bring its Asia customer base,
retail network, infrastructure and Asia partnerships.
While financial terms
of the deal were not disclosed, the companies did say that Priceline.com
will not initially take a stake in the company, but will retain the option
to control up to 50 percent.
Priceline.com also announced that this year it intends to add credit cards
and long-distance phone services to its current bidding line for leisure
airline tickets, hotel rooms, new and rental cars, and home loans.
Priceline, which lists 4 million customers and generated $500 million in revenue for the
past year, is aiming for a $2.6 billion market. Asia is also being hailed
by several research companies as the next e-commerce boom region.
“Any Internet company expecting to be a major world player needs to
establish a significant, meaningful and long-term presence in Asian
countries,” said Richard S. Braddock, Priceline.com’s chairman and chief
executive officer.
Hutchison Whampoa, which has unleashed several separate e-commerce schemes
this week, boasts a market capitalization of over
$53 billion. The conglomerate also owns significant infrastructure
resources, which it will also contribute to the recently announced iBusiness
Corporation.com joint venture with its parent company Cheung Kong (Holdings)
Ltd, HSBC Ltd., and Hang Seng Bank. Hutchison is also the largest
stakeholder in German media giant Mannesmann AG.
