On July 1, Giant Interactive Group announced that it has signed a final investment agreement to acquire a 25% stake of social network site 51.com for about US$51M in cash.

51.com is China's second largest network community only second to Tencent Corporation, and China's largest independent social network site. 51.com obtains proceeds by charging advertising fees and providing value-added services and games. This site received Series A investment from Sequoia Capital and Series B investment from SIG Asia Investments, Intel Capital and Redpoint Ventures. The two rounds amounted to over US$16M. 

Yuzhu Shi, President of Giant Interactive said that, this is the first strategic investment for the company after its debut on NYSE. As the first industrial investor to 51. com, Giant Interactive pays much attention to its investment value, and plans to cooperate with the site in the aspect of network game and community.