Baidu buys controlling stake in Brazil discount site Peixe Urbano

Baidu (BIDU.NASDAQ) has purched for an undisclosed amount a controlling stake in Peixe Urbano, the company behind a Brazilian discount site with more than 30,000 merchant partners, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the companies. Under the terms of the transaction Baidu will let Peixe Urbano’s management team, led by co-founder and CEO Julio Vasconcellos, operate autonomously within the search engine giant’s corporate structure. The Rio de Janeiro-based company has more than 20 million customers in Brazil, and has sold more than 30 million discount vouchers since its founding in 2010 to generate about R$3 billion in estimated savings for users, the company said.