Alibaba Sells Bilibili Assets For $360 Million

(CTN News) – Chinese streaming platform Bilibili Inc. has been sold to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. for almost $360 million at a significant discount, in the latest in a string of asset deals from e-commerce pioneer Alibaba Group hoping to raise capital to invest in artificial intelligence and revitalize the company.

There are people familiar with the matter who, who asked not to be named as the information is private, said that Alibaba had priced the sale of 30.85 million Bilibili American depositary receipts at $11.60 per unit.

It represents a discount of about 5.5% compared to the stock’s closing price on Wednesday, $1.40. In Hong Kong on Friday, Bilibili’s share price plunged as much as 8.4%, marking the company’s biggest decline in over two months.

‘Alibaba’ has been a leader in China’s retailing and startup industries for more than a decade, but in the last year has begun consistently whittling down its holdings in everything from retail stores to startups.

Shares of electrical-vehicle manufacturer XPeng Inc. and artificial intelligence firm SenseTime Group Inc. have been sold down by the company, while its stake in Hong Kong-listed ride-sharing firm GogoX Holdings Ltd. has also been reduced.

Having undergone a massive overhaul in the past few years, the company is now looking at refocusing its vast business empire on its core retail business. It is also looking at technology-oriented fields, such as the cloud and artificial intelligence.

Despite selling stock in more established firms, Alibaba has led major fundraising drives for at least two Chinese AI startups this year. This signals its intent to stake out a position in this potentially transformative field as it seeks to sell stock in Chinese startups.

As well as providing capital for investment, Alibaba is also undertaking one of the biggest shareholder-return programs in the country at the moment. A separate company has been named to manage the company’s global portfolio of assets.

This is considered by analysts as a vehicle for the company to sell its holdings throughout the world. Alibaba is still a significant part-owner of some of the biggest companies in China, including Weibo Corp. and Sun Art Retail Group Ltd. The company is also considering selling Alibaba Group’s department store brand InTime.

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