YuuZoo in multimillion-dollar e-sports deal with Alibaba

MAINBOARD-LISTED social networking firm YuuZoo Corporation said on Wednesday it has signed an agreement with Alibaba Sports Group (ASG) to organise and run an e-sports tournament and manage e-sports club competition centres.

Under the agreement, YuuZoo's China joint venture YuuGames will receive a "multimillion US dollar fee".

"Through this deal, YuuZoo will gain a significant number of new users, who will be added to YuuZoo's fast-growing user base. Further, YuuZoo will generate additional revenue from promotional fees, advertising revenue, and e-commerce sales," YuuZoo said in a press release.

ASG is a new business set up in 2015 by Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant.

The e-sports tournament, called the AliSports World Electronic Sport Games, will start in April.

Said YuuZoo chairman Thomas Zilliacus: "As a new partner to China's largest e-commerce group, we are not only looking to reinforce our position as a leader in China's e-sports sector, but also to discuss opportunities with Alibaba Group to jointly grow YuuZoo's other China-based businesses, including our gaming business, payment business and social e-commerce business."

YuuZoo traded at S$0.197, down S$0.002 or one per cent, before the announcement.