According to Chinabyte.com, Telstra Corporation Limited will invest about CNY500 million into PCPOP and IT168 to control the stakes of the two vertical IT websites as well as vertical car websites of autohome and che168.

Previously in 2006, Telstra acquired 51% of of Chinese real estate portal Soufang.com for USD254 million.

Telstra appears poised to become a scaled vertical website with diversified services of real estate, technology and cars following its taking of stakes in PCPOP and IT168.

Previously, it was rumored that PC Online and Focus Media would acquire PCPOP for about CNY120 million, so the price Telstra pays for PCPOP's stake this time shall be higher than this amount, though it is yet unknown.

PCPOP.com is an interactive media platform for digital products, and IT168 is a provider of originally-created IT information.