Alibaba buys 18 per cent stake in microblogging platform Weibo
Alibaba Group has agreed to buy an
18 per cent stake in Sina Corp's microblogging platform, Weibo.
Associated Press- New York,
- Updated Apr 30, 2013 2:24 PM IST
PHOTO: Associated Press
Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce company, has agreed to buy an 18 per cent stake in Sina Corp's microblogging platform, Weibo.
Alibaba says it has paid $586 million for the stake in China's equivalent of Twitter. It has the option of increasing its ownership to 30 per cent.
Yahoo owns 24 per cent of Alibaba. Yahoo shares fell 1 cent to $24.67.
The companies also agreed to develop ways to let merchants on Alibaba connect with Weibo users. It expects the alliance to generate $380 million in advertising and commerce services for Weibo over the next three years.
Sina's US-listed shares jumped $6.69, or 13 per cent, to $56.99 in morning trade. The day's high of $60.81 was the stock's highest level since October.
Published on: Apr 30, 2013 2:24 PM IST