SINA Corp, operator of China's most popular microblogging site, said it has bought 9.05 percent in China's second largest video site Tudou as it seeks to improve the attractiveness of its Weibo.com site to lure more users.

Sina paid US$66.4 million for the stake in Tudou, according to a filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

TUDOU, China's second-largest video website, looks set to finally list in the United States after its initial public offering plan was interrupted for more than half a year because of a divorce case involving its founder and Chief Executive Gary Wang.

Tudou aims to sell 5.6 million shares at US$28 to US$30 each on Nasdaq to raise as much as US$180 million if over-subscription occurs, according to a renewed version of its prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company plans to use the proceeds to upgrade its technology in a highly-competitive market.

BEIJING-BASED video website Sohu.com is seeking 100,000 yuan (US$14,993) in compensation from competitor Tudou.com, accusing Tudou of violating its exclusive rights to broadcast a popular TV play online.

Tudou denied having infringed Sohu's copyright in a hearing held at the Pudong New Area People's Court yesterday.

In turn, Tudou said it sued Sohu in Beijing in August as Sohu had broadcast another popular TV play whose online copyright belonged to Tudou.

Sohu said it had obtained exclusive rights to broadcast "A Story of Lala's Promotion" on the Internet in November 2009 and put it online in April.

CHINA'S top online video website Youku.com is racing with arch rival Tudou.com to float shares in the United States as intensified competition requires more spending for patented content and Internet bandwidth expenditure.

Beijing-based Youku today filed an application to make an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange to raise as much as US$150 million, a larger amount than that of Tudou's possible US$120 million on NASDAQ. Tudou filed its application on Thursday.

Youku has raised US$160 million of venture capital in six rounds of fund raising from institutions including Bain Capital and Sutter Hill Ventures.

CHINA'S second largest online video website, Tudou Holdings, is seeking an initial public offering on Nasdaq to raise as much as US$120 million, a filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission showed.

Shanghai-based Tudou said yesterday it will use the proceeds to expand Internet bandwidth, upgrade technology and replenish capital for potential acquisitions and partnerships.

Tudou.com announced in early August it has raised US$50 million in its Series E funding to support research and development projects for mobile device video technology to drive future growth.

Chinese video portal Tudou.com announced Thursday that it raised $50 million in venture capital to expand its advertising-supported web platforms, develop technologies for videos on mobile devices and create original "made-for-Internet" content.

The series E funding includes $35 million from Temasek Holdings Pte., a Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund that also has invested in Bank of China Ltd., and China Construction Bank Corp. An additional $15 million came from previous investors, including IDG China, KTB Ventures and Granite Global Ventures.