There's much speculation that the social networking site will follow MySpace to the mainland, most likely through an acquisition, but Facebook denies the latest rumorsOver the past few months, investors have speculated about how Facebook would gain a foothold in China. Ever since the U.S. social networking company's rival, News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace, launched a Chinese version in April, people have been asking when and how Facebook would follow.
Would the company start from scratch, like MySpace China, or would it acquire one of the dozens of Chinese Facebook wannabes? And if Facebook did make an acquisition, which company would the lucky target of its attention? Rumors have circulated about potential candidates such as Xiaonei, a social networking service owned by Beijing-based Oak Pacific Interactive, or Tianwang, another Chinese Web 2.0 site.
On Nov. 19, Facebook quickly nixed the latest rumor. Late in the evening, CNet News reported on its Web site that a Facebook spokesperson had denied a British media report that the company was talking with Zhanzuo.com, one of the more prominent social networking sites in China, about an $85 million acquisition.
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