China: Biggest private courier buys two Boeing 747-400 freighters, via e-shopping site

Two Boeing 747-400 Freighters were sold on Tuesday on Taobao, the online shopping platform owned by Alibaba, for a combined 322.8m yuan (US$49m), reflecting the first time such jets were sold via online auction in China, and possibly the first-ever globally at online auction. The sale was concluded after six failed attempts at offline private auctions organised by the seller – a state court – in the past few years. SF Express, China’s largest private courier, bought the jets from the Intermediate People’s Court in the southern city of Shenzhen, which seized them after Jade Cargo International filed for bankruptcy in 2013. Three Boeing 747-400s had been put up for sale on Taobao’s judicial auction arm from Monday to Tuesday. One of the jets parked at the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport went unsold, with a starting bid of 122.6m yuan. Taobao is an online shopping platform similar to eBay. The other two planes bought by SF Express are housed at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport. They had an opening bid of 133.8m yuan and 135m yuan respectively, and both drew two participants during the auction process. The jets were eventually gavelled off at 160.8m yuan and 162m yuan, up 20% from the starting bids. According to rules on Taobao’s auction site, bidders were required to make security deposits of 6.1m yuan, 6.7m yuan, and 6.8m yuan for the respective jets before the auction. The winning bidder is obliged to complete the purchase by sending full payment within 15 working days.<br/>