American mobile game developer Kabam announced that the company has gained a USD120 million investment from Alibaba Group.
Kabam said in a statement that the funding will help the company realize growth and Alibaba will assign an executive to join the board of directors at Kabam. Kabam's valuation reached over USD1 billion during this round of financing; however, no further details were released.
This transaction allows Kabam to establish a link with China's leading e-commerce group. In 2013, Kabam claims to have achieved sales of over USD360 million, marking a doubling of growth from the previous year. Meanwhile, Alibaba is preparing for its IPO in the U.S.
Liu Chunning, president of Alibaba's digital entertainment business cluster, said that Alibaba is committed to cooperation with high-quality gaming companies like Kabam and providing quality digital entertainment experience to users. With strong innovation and expansion spirit, Kabam is a proper partner that Alibaba has been looking for.
Kent Wakeford, chief operating officer of Kabam, said that the Asian market contributed 50% of the global gaming revenue. The cooperation with Alibaba will provide Kabam with the structural advantage to enter the world's largest online gaming market.
As the first move of the two parties, Alibaba will introduce Kabam's gaming product "The Lord of the Rings" to Chinese users.