Alibaba offers to buy Youku Tudou


Details

Rebecca Hawkes

| 16 October 2015





E-commerce giant Alibaba has made a non-binding offer to acquire full control of China's leading online video company Youku Tudou, in which it already holds an 18.5% stake.


Alibaba, run by billionaire chairman Jack Ma, has offered to acquire all remaining shares of Youku Tudou, including American depositary shares (ADS), for US$26.60 per ADS in an all-cash transaction.

The deal values Youku Tudou at $4.2 billion based on the number of shares outstanding as of 31 December, according to Bloomberg data.

"The proposal is subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence by Alibaba and the negotiation of a mutually acceptable definitive merger agreement," the e-commerce company said, adding that Youku Tudou chief Victor Koo would remain chairman and chief executive of the online video business.

"Digital products, especially video, are just as important as physical goods in e-commerce, and Youku's high quality video content be a core component of Alibaba's digital product offering in the future," Alibaba chief executive Daniel Zhang said in a statement.

Alibaba, in partnership with Yunfeng Capital invested $1.2 billion to acquire a 18.5% stake in Youku Tudou in May 2014.