Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Yahoo Exchanges Alibaba.com Stake For $150M


Yahoo should soon have about $150 million more to its name.  By selling 57.48 million shares, the Sunnyvale-based company is liquidating its stake in Chinese business-to-business site Alibaba.com and collecting a tidy profit.
http://l.yimg.com/a/i/ww/met/yahoo_logo_in_061509.pngYahoo acquired its 1.14 percent stake in Alibaba.com during the company's initial public offering in 2007.  Now, Reuters reports that Yahoo will sell the stake at a 4.0-6.4 percent discount on Alibaba's most recent closing price.
That might indicate that Yahoo's in a bit of a hurry; there's a definite concern, at least, about how both Yahoo and Alibaba.com shareholders will interpret its move.  (A relevant note: Yahoo's stock is already down 1.22 percent this morning).  But even after the discount, Yahoo should realize a profit of 47 percent or more, which makes its investment look like a good one.
Here's another important detail: Yahoo is holding onto its 40 percent stake in Alibaba.com's parent company, Alibaba Group, so it's not getting out of China or anything of the sort.
John Spelich, a vice president at Alibaba Group, also stated, "We are pleased to learn of the Yahoo! decision because having broader ownership of Alibaba.com with increased liquidity and support among institutional investors is what Alibaba.com hoped to achieve when it released the cornerstone investors."
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