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Subject: Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, is poised to expand his media holdings as his online finance company eyes a…
Excerpt: English text from the archived bilingual edition · Chinese edition
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Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, is poised to expand his media holdings as his online finance company eyes a stake in Caixin, the business magazine
Two people close to Caixin said discussions were under way for Ant Financial, the payments, banking and asset management affiliate of US-listed Alibaba, to buy an undisclosed holding
If successful it would be the second recent media investment by Mr Ma’s companies, following Alibaba’s December purchase of South China Morning Post for $266m
Caixin said yesterday it was poised to complete talks with a group of unnamed investors. The stake sale would not interfere with its independence, it added
“The new stakeholders will respect Caixin’s editorial independence, as our past stakeholders have done, and accept our internal firewall and compliance management arrangements, which will safeguard our credibility.”
Caixin said a funding round in 2012 — when Tencent, a rival of Alibaba’s, and China Media Capital, a Shanghai-based fund, took stakes — had not affected its commitment to objectivity
According to a person close to the talks, Alibaba has been given a seat on Caixin’s board. Ant Financial declined to comment
The investment is likely to be scrutinised for any hint that Mr Ma, who has majority control of Ant Financial, is trying to buy influence or offer political favours for the Chinese government
In last year’s purchase of South China Morning Post, Alibaba was accused of seeking to interfere editorially after Joe Tsai, its executive vice-chairman, said the newspaper could be an alternative to western coverage of China, which he described as negative and biased
Caixin’s fierce independence is attributed to Hu Shuli, its chief editor and one of China’s most respected journalists, who founded the magazine in 1998. In 2011 she had an online argument with Mr Ma after he was accused of breaching corporate governance rules
Alibaba and its affiliates have moved aggressively into the media sector. Alibaba is also an investor in Watching, a news website launched last March, and Seec Media . It co-owns iTianxia Web-Commerce, a trade publication focused on online retail
Ant Financial is being prepared for an initial public offering in China, though the company refuses to say when
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