{"id":188708,"date":"2015-11-25T17:33:01","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T01:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=188708"},"modified":"2021-09-14T20:37:18","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T03:37:18","slug":"alibabas-jack-ma-talks-buy-scmp-stake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/11\/alibabas-jack-ma-talks-buy-scmp-stake\/","title":{"rendered":"Alibaba’s Jack Ma in Talks to Buy SCMP Stake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is said to be in talks with\u00a0South China Morning Post to acquire a stake in the Hong Kong-based English language newspaper<\/a><\/strong>. Matthew Brooker at Bloomberg\u00a0reports:<\/p>\n

Now Ma may be ready to pull the trigger again. It’s the newspaper business that appears to be in need of stirring up this time. Alibaba’s chairman is in talks to buy a stake in the publisher of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n

Alibaba shareholders dubious about the advantages of buying into a struggling\u00a0company in an industry in structural decline can relax. Unlike the Guangzhou Evergrande purchase, Ma would be using his own money rather than the company’s, this time. The cost is hardly likely to be prohibitive in any case. SCMP Group shares last traded at HK$1.95 in February 2013, giving the company a market value of about HK$3 billion ($390 million) — chump change for a businessman with net worth of $29.7 billion, let alone a business with a market value of close to $200 billion. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On Bloomberg West, Emily Chang\u00a0spoke with Bloomberg’s Tom Giles and Techonomy’s David Kirkpatrick<\/a> about the anticipated deal.<\/p>\n

The head of South China Morning Post Group confirmed in an article today that the company has indeed received an offer from a potential buyer whose identity has not been revealed<\/a><\/strong>. From SCMP:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe preliminary understanding is that the potential purchaser would like to have continuity in the media business\u2019 operations, and that minimal disruption of the media business is expected,\u201d SCMP Group CEO Robin Hu said in a message to staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would also use our best endeavour to ensure the interests of employees would be well taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that discussions are at a very early stage and the sale is subject to regulatory review and approval.<\/p>\n

\u201c[While] both parties will approach discussions in good faith, there is no guarantee such an outcome will ultimately materialise,\u201d Hu said. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If successful, the purchase of SCMP Group’s media assets would be the latest addition to Jack Ma’s growing online media empire<\/a><\/strong>. Josh Horwitz at Quartz lists the media holdings that Ma had acquired in the past few years:<\/p>\n

\n