Alibaba.com is refusing to participate in a deal with its parent Alibaba Group to buy a stake in Sohu.com Inc.'s search engine unit, the chief executive of the e-commerce company said on Tuesday.
The deal, which was announced on Monday, would involve Alibaba Group and a fund founded by its Chairman Jack Ma buying a 16 percent share in Sohu.com's search engine unit Sogou. Although the deal has yet to be finalized, it could potentially boost Sohu's search engine presence in the Chinese market while also attracting more users to Alibaba Group's e-commerce business.
Alibaba.com, however, sees no value in the participating in the deal with another search engine said its CEO, David Wei, during a conference call with the media. Search engines are not in direct competition with the company, he added.
"We will not use third-party search technology," Wei added.
Alibaba Group, however, can still choose to continue with the deal, Wei added. "Any investment, it is coming from Alibaba Group," he said.
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