Alibaba in talks to buy South China Morning Post publisher

 


Chinese e-commerce firm negotiating deal for stake in media assets of Hong Kong-listed SCMP Group, owned by Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok since 1993

Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company owned by Jack Ma, is in talks to buy a stake in the publisher of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper, a source familiar with the potential deal has confirmed.

The deal would involve the media assets of the Hong Kong-listed SCMP Group, including the 112-year-old English-language newspaper.
Alibaba and SCMP declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
SCMP Group issued a statement to the city’s bourse on Thursday confirming talks on the possible sale of its media assets, but without confirming the potential buyer.

“Consideration of such proposal is at a very early stage and the terms of any potential transaction remain subject to discussion and to regulatory review.”

In an internal memo published to SCMP staff on Wednesday, seen by AFP, the firm’s CEO, Robin Hu, said the deal could involve the SCMP newspaper, magazines, outdoor media, custom publishing and the events businesses.

If the deal goes ahead,Ma would become the latest internet tycoon to step in to take over a traditional newspaper. The paper was once owned by Rupert Murdoch, who sold it to Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok in 1993.

The SCMP, founded in 1903 and the city’s main English-language paper, was once the world’s most profitable newspaper on a per reader basis, but it has seen an increasing number of readers moving online.