Alibaba takes giant strides

E-commerce firm steps up buying spree ahead of US listing with UCWeb deal

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Wednesday that it will buy all the remaining shares of mobile browser company UCWeb Inc in China's biggest Internet deal, as the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant is seen stepping up its spending spree ahead of its highly anticipated initial public offering in the United States.

The deal, the latest among Alibaba's series of investments totaling $4.8 billion over the past six months, marks the company's further push into the mobile Internet sector.