Groupon Enters China Via GaoPeng.com Investment

Groupon has entered China's massive market through its investment in group-buying site GaoPeng.com, which launched on Sunday, GaoPeng announced. The new portal kicked off in Beijing and Shanghai, and it plans to expand into other major Chinese markets on the back of Groupon's global group-buying experience, says GaoPeng.

Groupon teamed up with Tencent Collaboration Fund and Yunfeng Capital, both of which have ties to Jack Ma, chairman of the closely watched Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group. Yahoo (YHOO) holds nearly a 40% stake in Alibaba (ALBCF), which along with its other Asian investments, contributes a large chunk of its overall market value.

Tencent Collaboration is an Internet investment fund run by services company Tencent, an Alibaba Group company. So, in a six-degrees of separation kinda way, Yahoo has also entered into the group-buying business in China -- without lifting a finger.

Under its investment with GaoPeng, Tencent will be bringing to the table its experience with online Chinese communities. That could come in handy, considering GaoPeng is entering a market that already has a few established players in the group-buying sector, according to a CNNGo report.