Chinese e-commerce company moves closer to Yahoo bid

 

Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company, has hired a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm in a sign that the company  would be willing to make a bid for all of Yahoo Inc. in the event that talks to unwind their Asian partnership fail, Reuters reported.

 

Japan’s Softbank Corp., which owns a 30 percent stake in Alibaba and is a partner in Yahoo Japan, is also listed as an Alibaba affiliate in the disclosure by the lobbying firm Duberstein Group Inc.

 

Alibaba Group’s founder, Jack Ma, said in September he was keen to buy all of Yahoo if the opportunity presented itself. Yahoo has a market value of around $20 billion.

 

Hiring a Washington lobbying firm could help Alibaba address any U.S. political opposition to a complete takeover of Yahoo by a company from a country that controls and censors the Internet. Chinese companies, such as telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co., have run into opposition when they have tried to buy U.S. assets.

 

Yahoo is exploring proposals to revamp its business in the face of competition from Internet heavyweights such as Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.

 

Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company, has hired a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm in a sign that the company  would be willing to make a bid for all of Yahoo Inc. in the event that talks to unwind their Asian partnership fail, Reuters reported.

 

Japan’s Softbank Corp., which owns a 30 percent stake in Alibaba and is a partner in Yahoo Japan, is also listed as an Alibaba affiliate in the disclosure by the lobbying firm Duberstein Group Inc.

 

Alibaba Group’s founder, Jack Ma, said in September he was keen to buy all of Yahoo if the opportunity presented itself. Yahoo has a market value of around $20 billion.

 

Hiring a Washington lobbying firm could help Alibaba address any U.S. political opposition to a complete takeover of Yahoo by a company from a country that controls and censors the Internet. Chinese companies, such as telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co., have run into opposition when they have tried to buy U.S. assets.

 

Yahoo is exploring proposals to revamp its business in the face of competition from Internet heavyweights such as Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.