Although last week Yahoo was rumored to be considering selling its Alibaba Group holdings for a sum of $17 billion, the latest rumor indicates Alibaba Group may be considering purchasing all of Yahoo. Alibaba Group, which has now retained the powerful Washington D.C. lobbying firm Duberstein Group Inc., has expressed interest in a Yahoo deal ever since Carol Bartz was fired in early September.
Duberstein Group, which specializes in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, is led by Kenneth Duberstein who was a chief of staff for Ronald Reagan. In addition to hiring Duberstein Group, Alibaba has also hired an acquisition and merger law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz that specializes in international takeovers.
During a visit to Stanford University in late October, Alibaba Group Chariman Jack Ma indicated that he was very interested in acquiring Yahoo:
“We are very interested in Yahoo because our Alibaba Group is so important to Yahoo, and Yahoo is also very important to us. There are so many people who are interested in that, and we are also talking to them.”
Yahoo, which owns approximately 40% of Alibaba and 35% of Yahoo Japan, has resisted selling the valuable Asian assets back to Alibaba Group. As a result of this resistance, the Chinese company has indicated that they would consider purchasing all of Yahoo to regain control of their company. However, an international deal involving the sale of a U.S. search engine to an international company that is committed to supporting government censorship, could meet resistance from governing authorities.
Although there have been rumors related to whether Alibaba Group would purchase all of Yahoo or merely try to regain control of Yahoo’s stake in the Alibaba Group, hiring a specialty law firm and powerful lobbying firm could signal Alibaba Group’s willingness to purchase Yahoo outright if necessary.
[Sources Include: VentureBeat & Financial Times]
