Alibaba Group Holding Ltd keen on buying Yahoo

NEW YORK: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd Chairman Jack Ma said he’s “very interested” in buying Yahoo! Inc., the US Web portal that ousted its chief executive officer last month amid stagnant growth and shrinking market share. Ma said he’s had discussions with Yahoo, as well as other potential buyers, without identifying them. The executive, whose company is 40% owned by Yahoo, spoke at an event at Stanford University near Palo Alto, California.

“We are very interested in Yahoo because our Alibaba Group is so important to Yahoo, and Yahoo is also very important to us,” Ma said, when asked if he would buy the company. “There are so many people who are interested in that, and we are also talking to them.” Yahoo executives said in a memo last week that their advisers have fielded inquiries from “multiple parties” interested in unspecified options. Ma’s existing relationship with Yahoo may give him an advantage in putting a deal together, said Brett Harris, an analyst at Gabelli & Co. in Rye, New York. “It would make sense for Alibaba to be involved because they own such a large stake,” said Harris, who recommends buying Yahoo and doesn’t own the stock. “Yahoo investors at this point are so disillusioned that they would welcome any buyer.”

Dana Lengkeek, a spokeswoman for Sunnyvale, California- based Yahoo, declined to comment. Yahoo rose as much as 76 cents, or 5.8 percent, in late trading. Before the remarks, the shares had fallen 25 cents to $13.17 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock is down 21 percent this year, giving the company a market value of $16.6 billion.

The company is reviewing strategy and seeking a new CEO after ousting Carol Bartz, who failed to reverse a growth slowdown or repel competition from Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. The process for reviewing strategic options is likely to take “months, not weeks,” according to the memo, which was signed by co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo and Chairman Roy Bostock.

As of mid-September, privateequity investor Silver Lake was considering a bid for Yahoo, people involved in the deliberations said at the time. As part of a deal, Silver Lake would sell off Yahoo’s Asian assets and then attempt to turn around the main operations or find a buyer for that business, the people said.