Alibaba likely to yield control of some business units in rejig: Report
Top executives of Chinese e-commerce and financial giant Alibaba said Thursday that the company is moving toward giving up control of some of its business units in a transition toward becoming a capital operator to optimise the value of its sprawling businesses.
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang outlined details of a plan announced earlier this week to split Alibaba into six main groups as a prelude toward stock listings of some of its companies.
The restructuring marks a new stage in Alibaba's growth after a series of setbacks as regulators cracked down on it and other tech companies.
Alibaba, whose headquarters is in the eastern city of Hangzhou, will be in the nature of a holding company that is the controlling shareholder of the business group companies, Zhang said in a conference call.
Alibaba's CFO, Toby Xu, said the company would continue to evaluate the strategic importance of group companies after they go public and decide whether or not to retain control. He declined to say when t