Beijing Asks Alibaba to Shed Its Media Assets
China’s government has asked
to dispose of its media assets, as officials grow more concerned about the technology giant’s sway over public opinion in the country, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussions over the matter have been held since early this year, after Chinese regulators reviewed a list of media assets owned by the Hangzhou-headquartered company, whose mainstay business is online retail. Officials were appalled at how expansive Alibaba’s media interests have become and asked the company to come up with a plan to substantially curtail its media holdings, the people said.
Alibaba, founded by billionaire
Jack Ma,
has throughout the years assembled a formidable portfolio of media assets that span print, broadcast, digital, social media and advertising. Notable holdings include stakes in the
-like Weibo platform and several popular Chinese digital and print news outlets, as well as the South China Morning Post, the premier English-language newspaper in Hong Kong. Several of these holdings are in U.S.-listed companies.
Such influence is seen as posing serious challenges to the Chinese Communist Party and its own powerful propaganda apparatus, the people said.
Selected Alibaba/Ant Media Assets
Hangzhou-based company owns South China Morning Post, stakes in Weibo and other popular outlets
- Alibaba owns 100% of the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s premier English newspaper.
- Alibaba owns nearly 37% of Yicai Media Group, one of China’s most influential news outlets.
- Alibaba owns about 30% of Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform. Its stake is valued at more than $3.5 billion.
- Alibaba owns 6.7% of Bilibili, a video platform that is popular among younger Chinese people. Its stake is worth nearly $2.6 billion.
- Ant owns 16.2% of 36kr, a U.S.-listed digital media outlet focused on technology. Its stake is worth $25 million.
- Alibaba owns 5% of Mango Excellent Media, a subsidiary of government-run Hunan TV. Its stake is worth about $819 million.
- Alibaba owns nearly 5.3% of Focus Media, China’s largest offline advertising network. Its stake is worth nearly $1.2 billion.
- Ant owned a 5.62% stake in Caixin Media, one of China’s most respected news sources. It sold its interest in 2019.
- Sources: The Securities and Exchange Commission, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, National Equities Exchange and Quotations of China, National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System of China, FactSet, Wind.
- Note: Market values for U.S.-listed companies are as of March 12; for China-listed firms, as of March 15.
The party’s propaganda department didn’t reply to a faxed request seeking comment.
Alibaba declined to comment on discussions with regulators pertaining to possible media asset disposals. In a statement, the company said it is a passive financial investor in media assets.
“The purpose of our investments in these companies is to provide technology support for their business upgrade and drive commercial synergies with our core commerce businesses. We do not intervene or get involved in the companies’ day-to-day operations or editorial decisions,” the statement said.
The asset-disposal discussions are the latest development in a series of run-ins between Beijing and Mr. Ma, who was once China’s most-celebrated entrepreneur. Late last year, Chinese leader
Xi Jinping
personally scuttled plans by Ant Group Co.—Alibaba’s financial-technology affiliate—to launch what would have been the world’s largest initial public offering, amid growing unease in Beijing over Ant’s complex ownership structure and worries that Ant was adding risk to the financial system. Mr. Xi was also angry at Mr. Ma for criticizing his efforts to strengthen financial oversight.
Antitrust regulators are also preparing to levy a record fine in excess of $975 million over what they call anticompetitive practices on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms, The Wall Street Journal previously reported citing people with knowledge of the matter. In addition, Alibaba would be required to end a practice under which, regulators believe, the tech giant forbade merchants to sell goods on both Alibaba and rival platforms.
Beyond media and online retail, Alibaba also has a sizable entertainment division, consisting mainly of Hong Kong-listed
and Youku Tudou Inc., one of China’s largest video…