Alibaba in New Talks with Yahoo?

Posted by Joachim Bartels | Mar 27, 2012 | Alibaba, China, E-Commerce, Japan, Online Media - Buyer - Seller Platforms, United States, Yahoo | 0 |

The leadership change at Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) looks to be prompting a fresh wave of friendly overtures toward partners Alibaba and SoftBank Capital.

The Hong Kong-based Alibaba and Japan’s SoftBank have been making efforts to buy back shares from Yahoo. The California company owns 40 percent of Alibaba and 35 percent of Yahoo Japan, of which Softbank is the largest owner. Talks have failed repeatedly, with the latest breakdown coming last month.

Earlier talks had failed over break-up fees and the value of Yahoo’s Alibaba stake. This would be the first time that Tsai and Thompson are meeting since the latter’s appointment and could be a signal of a possible agreement in the near future. However, Yahoo’s efforts could be soured by activist hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb, who is seeking four board seats.

Source: The Wall St Cheat Sheet

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Joachim Bartels

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