Strategic Expansion and Synergistic Development of Internet Enterprises: A Case Study of Alibaba's Acquisition of Ele.me

Abstract

This paper takes Alibaba's acquisition of Ele.me as the research object to explore the strategic expansion and synergistic development logic of Internet enterprises. It first sorts out the development history, business layout, and acquisition process of both parties, and analyzes the core motivations including strategic expansion needs, market competition factors, and synergy considerations. Second, it analyzes post-merger integration strategies from business, technology, and organization & culture dimensions. Finally, it evaluates the acquisition effect from financial and non-financial performance perspectives. The study finds that this is a typical strategy-driven acquisition. Through multi-dimensional integration, resource sharing and complementary advantages are realized. After the acquisition, profitability and operational capability steadily improved, user scale and brand attention significantly increased, while short-term solvency declined. This case provides useful insights for Internet enterprises to achieve strategic expansion through M&A.