Tom.com Purchases Portal 163.net

Tom.com Ltd. said it has agreed to acquire a 100 pct stake in Chinese portal 163.net for 48 mln US$.

In a statement, Tom.com said it will issue 61.68 mln new shares at 5.69 HK$ each to satisfy 45 mln US$ of the total payment, and will pay the remaining 3 mln US$ through certain shareholders' loans.

Tom.com said the partnership with 163.net is expected to add 5.5 mln registered users to its network and enable Tom.com to become one of the top 10 most visited websites in China.

People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/