China's Tencent to acquire stake in map provider Navinfo

The battle between Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group continues to heat up as the former takes an 11.3% stake in digital mapping service provider Navinfo Co Ltd for 1.17 billion yuan (US$187.33mil) and the latter says it will acquire online map provider Autonavi Holdings - AFP Photo.

SHANGHAI: Chinese Internet service provider Tencent Holdings plans to acquire an 11.3% stake in digital mapping service provider Navinfo Co Ltd for 1.17 billion yuan (US$187.33mil), Navinfo said late on Monday.

Tencent, which controls WeChat, will buy 78 million shares at 15.04 yuan per share from Navinfo's major shareholder China Siwei Surveying & Mapping Technology Corporation, according to a statement posted on the website of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.