Alibaba offers $2.5b to take listed unit private

Updated: 2012-02-21 22:25

(Agencies)

  Comments( China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World

Sorry, the page you requested was not found.

Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Chinadaily.com.cn, try visiting the Chinadaily home page

Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
)
Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按钮 0

HONG KONG - Alibaba.com's parent company wants to take the Chinese e-commerce company private for $2.5 billion, the firms said Tuesday, part of a shift in business strategy that also includes plans to buy back a stake from Yahoo Inc.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said it is offering to buy the Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba.com that it doesn't already own for 13.50 Hong Kong dollars a share, at a cost of up to HK$19.6 billion ($2.5 billion). The offer is 46 percent higher than the stock's last price of HK$9.25 before it was suspended from trading on February 8. The shares are to resume trading on Wednesday.

After years of rapid growth, Alibaba.com expects to add paying customers at a slower rate so it is now focusing more on improving the experience of existing manufacturers, wholesalers and trading companies that use the site. That could hurt financial results, the companies said.

"Taking Alibaba.com private will allow our company to make long-term decisions that are in the best interest of our customers and that are also free from the pressures that come from having a publicly listed company," founder and Chairman Jack Ma said.

Alibaba said the "depressed" share price is also having an "adverse impact" on business, its reputation with customers and employee morale. Taking the company private would eliminate that problem.

Yahoo owns about 40 percent of Alibaba Group, which in turn owns about 73 percent of Alibaba.com.

Alibaba Group has been negotiating with Yahoo to buy back its stake but those talks have stalled over the terms. The company noted that it is in talks with Yahoo to "restructure" its holdings in Alibaba Group but said the privatization offer isn't conditional on that deal's completion.

Comments (English only) View Comments
Your name

Messages that harass,abuse or threaten others;have obscene or otherwise objectionable content;have commercial or advertising content or links may be removed.

Comments: ( China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World

Sorry, the page you requested was not found.

Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Chinadaily.com.cn, try visiting the Chinadaily home page

Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
)