Yahoo owns 40 percent of the Alibaba Group, and some onlookers feel that tie is the only thing keeping Yahoo afloat in Asia. But as rumors circulate that Alibaba will undergo an IPO, floating could turn into flying.
To be more accurate, it’s only part of Alibaba – the business-to-business arm – that may be listed. Still, from Yahoo’s perspective, any news has to be good news. American Internet companies haven’t done too well in China, and Yahoo has had an especially bad time; the company got blasted from a number of prominent figures and organizations due to its compliance with Chinese authorities.
The predictions of BusinessWeek’s Bruce Einhorn indicate that an Alibabi IPO would be anything but run-of-the-mill, however. “If the IPO does take place it could rival that of Baidu.com, the Chinese search engine that went public on Nasdaq in August, 2005, and has enjoyed a 34% increase in its stock price since then,” Einhorn writes.
He also mentions Yahoo’s new CEO, adding, “An Alibaba IPO would provide a welcome Chinese break for Yang, who has helped steer Yahoo through what has been up to now a pretty dismal run in the Middle Kingdom.”
Further details regarding this rumored development are scarce. Reuters did determine that the IPO should take place in Hong Kong, though, as opposed to any US markets.
