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Alibaba share sale values the China e-commerce firm at $128 billion
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[February 13, 2014]
By Paul Carsten
BEIJING (Reuters) — A rare sale of a
stake in Alibaba Group Holding <IPO-ALIB.N> values China's dominant
e-commerce company at around $128 billion, Reuters calculations
show.
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 Alibaba is expected to go public later this year in the world's
biggest listing since Facebook Inc's <FB.O> debut in 2012 and the
potential value of the firm and its IPO are a key focus for
investors keen to cash in on China's booming online retail market.
A recent Reuters poll of eight analysts had put Alibaba's market
value at around $140 billion and the value of the IPO at $15
billion.
Chinese video game company Giant Interactive Group <GA.N> said on
Tuesday it is selling a stake in Alibaba to a Tiger Global fund for
roughly $199 million but did not disclose further details.
Giant Interactive bought a $50 million stake in Alibaba in 2011
through Yunfeng Capital, a China-based private equity firm
co-founded by Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma.
Around that time, Alibaba was valued at around $32 billion after a
private equity consortium led by Silver Lake <SILAK.UL>, Yunfeng
Capital and DST Global bought a 5 percent stake for $1.6 billion.
Assuming that Giant's stake has not changed since 2011, it is now
worth roughly four times its original amount and Alibaba's value
would have correspondingly increased to $128 billion.
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The IPO has suffered some delay as Alibaba has struggled to reach an
agreement with Hong Kong regulators over a partnership structure it
hopes to use as part of the IPO. The location of the listing has yet
to be decided.
Giant Interactive said it is selling its holdings in Yunfeng
E-Commerce Funds to a fund owned by Tiger Global Management LLC.
Tiger Global also owns a 22.1 percent stake in Alibaba's main
Chinese e-commerce rival JD.com, according to a JD.com filing.
JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce company formerly known as
Jingdong and 360Buy, filed for a U.S. listing in January.
(Additional reporting by Stephen Aldred
and Elzio Barreto in Hong Kong; editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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