After Microsoft’s proposal to buy Yahoo! globally, Alibaba, who part-owned by Yahoo! is seeking for buyers for the Yahoo stakes. From Financial Times :
Alibaba , the Chinese internet company part-owned by Yahoo , is in late-stage talks with a group of investors to raise the money to try to buy back the multi-billion dollar stake, should Yahoo eventually be acquired by Microsoft .
Alibaba has already lined up two lead investors to back a buy-out and is preparing to enter formal discussions with a wider investment group later this week, according to one person familiar with the situation.
The investors include a Chinese sovereign wealth fund, this person said, adding: “foreign involvement is viewed by government and consumers as undesirable.” A buy-out would also buttress the position of Alibaba founder Jack Ma, already has day-to-day management control of the group.