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Alibaba eyeing European expansion

By Kristopher Fraser

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New York - Alibaba is working on their European strategy. The e-commerce company is opening offices in Munich and Paris. Terry von Bibra will carry the title of Managing Director of Alibaba Group Germany, and Sebastien Badault will carry the same title for France.

The idea behind the expansion is to better serve Alibaba's European-based partners and potential partners. The big plan is for Alibaba to become the "gateway to China" for retail.

“Alibaba’s France and Germany country offices will help identify the most suitable local products for the Chinese market, help merchants sell on Alibaba’s platforms, assist with outbound and inbound logistics, and facilitate online payments for Chinese consumers and offline payments for Chinese tourists,” the company said in a statement.

Prior to joining Alibaba, von Bibra was chief retail officer for Karstadt. Before that, he helped established Amazon in Europe, and worked at Yahoo.

Badault also worked at Amazon, where he was one on the first employees for Amazon France, he's also worked for Google France. His most recent role was as global account director for Google's strategic customers in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Both von Bibra and Badault will report Michael Evans, president of Alibaba Group.

Alibaba