Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Web
  3. News

China’s Alibaba Looking to Buy Out Yahoo’s Stake

By
Image used with permission by copyright holder

One of China’s Internet successes has been the Alibaba Group, which includes the Alibaba and Taobao ecommerce and online auction sites. Back in 2005, Internet giant Yahoo wanted to establish a significant foothold in the Chinese market, so it put down $1 billion for a 40 percent stake in the Alibaba Group—a stake it holds to this day despite significant frictions between the companies. Now, at the Alibaba shareholder meeting in Shenzen, China, company CFO Joe Tsai said Alibaba would like to buy out Yahoo’s share and list the company on the mainland China stock exchange. The listing would be a way to assert Alibaba’s Chinese identity and help the company shed an image that it is beholden to American business interests.

The company currently trades on the Hong Kong stock exchange, although it is technically a Cayman Islands corporation.

Recommended Videos

Yahoo and Alibaba have had their share of frictions, with Alibaba—which runs Yahoo China—cooperating with Chinese authorities to turn over information on account holders that has been used to put Chinese bloggers in prison. Alibaba also considered spinning loose of Yahoo back in 2008 when Microsoft made an enormous unsolicited takeover offer for Yahoo, and the companies have since butted heads in the wake of cyberattacks perpetrated against Google and other U.S. firms operating in China: Yahoo backed Google’s position, while Alibaba characterized both Google and Yahoo’s stances as “reckless.”

Yahoo has looked at its Alibaba investment as a way to have a significant presence in the Chinese market without actually having to operate there. If Alibaba were to buy out Yahoo’s share of the company, Yahoo would be forced to consider whether to run its own operations in China, or potentially seek another partner. Both propositions are tricky, especially given the latest chapter in Google’s struggle with Chinese authorities, which has the company no longer redirecting search traffic to Hong Kong in an effort to keep its license to operate in China.

So far, Yahoo has expressed no interest in selling its portion of Alibaba.

Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
PayPal vs. Venmo vs. Cash App vs. Apple Cash: which app should you use?
PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, and Apple Wallet apps on an iPhone.

We’re getting closer every day to an entirely cashless society. While some folks may still carry around a few bucks for emergencies, electronic payments are accepted nearly everywhere, and as mobile wallets expand, even traditional credit and debit cards are starting to fall by the wayside.

That means many of us are past the days of tossing a few bills onto the table to pay our share of a restaurant tab or slipping our pal a couple of bucks to help them out. Now, even those things are more easily doable from our smartphones than our physical wallets.

Read more
How to change margins in Google Docs
Laptop Working from Home

When you create a document in Google Docs, you may need to adjust the space between the edge of the page and the content --- the margins. For instance, many professors have requirements for the margin sizes you must use for college papers.

You can easily change the left, right, top, and bottom margins in Google Docs and have a few different ways to do it.

Read more
What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app
A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Read more