Baidu buys into e-book retailer

BEIJING - Baidu Inc, China's biggest search engine by market share, has bought approximately 40 percent of a Chinese e-book seller, Fanshu.com. That's according to a person close to the matter who declined to be named.

The search engine has been in discussions about cooperation with Fanshu, a website on which users can search, share and purchased licensed e-books, since last year, according to the source.

Last month, an announcement on the website of China Beijing Equity Exchange (CBEE) said Fanshu was planning to transfer 40 percent of its stake worth 47.6 million yuan ($7.39 million). It's not known how much Baidu will pay if the deal goes ahead.