Now that restrictions related to the sale of Alibaba’s stock have been lifted, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) is unloading its 1.4 percent stake in China e-commerce site Alibaba.com for $150 million, WSJ reported. The sale in the site is separate from the roughly 40 percent stake Yahoo holds in its parent, The Alibaba Group, which is therefore not affected. Speaking on CNBC last week, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz brushed off any thought of selling its holdings in the company. Yahoo has suggested it would consider shedding some of its Asian assets over the past few months. Last spring, it decided to sell its 10 percent portion of Korean auction site Gmarket to eBay (NSDQ: EBAY). Yahoo has been fairly disappointed in its dealings with Alibaba.com.
In her CNBC interview, Bartz noted the difficulty of working in media in China, citing the government’s involvement as a major issue for companies doing business there. Aside from that, last month, Alibaba removed its classified listings business from Yahoo China as part of plans to re-focus the portal on entertainment content. Initially, Yahoo and other investors were prevented from selling shares in Alibaba.com due to restrictions that were attached to the IPO. It would have had to wait until November to offer its shares, but in June, Alibaba decided to waive the requirement.
The news of Yahoo’s intentions comes a few days after Alibaba Group founder and Chairman Jack Ma sold 13 million shares in Alibaba.com, raising HK$270 million (US$34.8 million), WSJ noted. According to Alibaba spokesman John Spelich, a sale by Yahoo is just what the company had been hoping for when it decided to allow early investors to sell now. The sale of Yahoo’s stock would provide “broader ownership of Alibaba.com, with increased liquidity and support among institutional investors,” Spelich told WSJ.
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