China's Alibaba buys US software developer Auctiva

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The Hong Kong-listed arm of China‘s e-commerce firm Alibaba said Wednesday it had agreed to buy US software developer Auctiva for an undisclosed sum, accelerating a push into the world‘s biggest economy.

The purchase of Auctiva,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which sells tools to help businesses list their products on eBay, comes after Alibaba.com acquired another US third-party software developer,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Vendio Services, in June.‘

Alibaba.com said the acquisitions will add more than 250,000 customers to its overall business.

Businesses using Auctiva and Vendio will have access to 1.5 million suppliers on Alibaba.com‘s sourcing platform and the new AliExpress,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which allows small firms to buy products on the site in their preferred currency using PayPal.

"Many small business owners never... thought that they would be able to source their products from overseas,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], as they did not have the staff or technological resources to do so," said David Wei, chief executive of Alibaba.com.

"We are bringing both sides of the equation together to make international sourcing as easy as possible for any business."

Alibaba.com said the acquisition of Auctiva was part of a 100-million-dollar investment plan for AliExpress,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which was officially launched in April.

Alibaba.com reported this month that first-half net profit jumped 39.8 percent from a year earlier to 693 million yuan (102 million dollars) as the number of its paying members grew and revenue rose.

In May, Alibaba.com said billionaire investor George Soros had become one of its top three largest shareholders.