Rumor: Tom Online To Acquire Alibaba (Taobao)

From ChinaTechNews.com: Rumor: Tom Online To Acquire Alibaba

"The Internet is rife with rumors that Tom Online (TOMO) will acquire Alibaba.com, a B2B service provider. ... Tom Online's stock has not shot up dramatically after doing its initial public offering and it has been weak in competing with other portals. The company is in need of finding a new service to help itself both on the stock and revenue fronts."

"Neither company has publicly confirmed or denied these rumors."

China Net Investor: Alibaba.com is a rapidly expanding online merchant serving small and medium-sized businesses in mainland China. Its consumer online auction unit, Taobao.com, is one of the most popular online auction sites in the country. Competitors are 1pai.com (Sina/Yahoo) and EbayEachnet.