The Chinese government has asked Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group to shed its media assets as officials there are concerned about the impact of tech giants on public opinion in the country, according to a new report.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, talks began earlier this year after Chinese regulators reviewed a list of media assets owned by Alibaba.
WSJ cited anonymous sources as saying that the online retailer’s media business had grown, officials were upset and asked the company to devise a strategy to reduce its holdings.
Ma’s Alibaba has a huge portfolio of media assets that span print, broadcast, digital, social media and advertising. The total value of Alibaba’s media assets cannot be obtained according to the Wall Street Journal tally, but holdings in publicly listed companies are valued at more than $ 8 billion.
The company’s best known media assets include platforms such as Weibo, Twitter as well as the English-language newspaper South China Morning Post. Assets are considered a threat because they pose a potential challenge to the Chinese Communist Party and its own powerful propaganda machine.
The report said government officials did not say which media assets would be required to be relinquished and it was unclear whether Alibaba would need to sell all its media assets, but any plans would need approval from China’s senior leadership Will be required, the report said.
Officials are also reportedly eyeing Alibaba’s entertainment division, which includes Hong Kong-listed Alibaba Pictures Group and Youku Tudou, one of China’s largest video-streaming platforms. However sources told the WSJ that an exact division of the entertainment portfolio may not be necessary.
Alibaba did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but told the Journal: “Our investment in these companies is aimed at providing technology support to upgrade their business and to have commercial synergies with our core commerce businesses. We do not interfere or be involved in the daily operations or editorial decisions of companies. “
The asset-settlement negotiations are the latest in a series of run-ins between Beijing and its billionaire founder Ma – once China’s most famous business leader.
The clashes that began after Ma destroyed China’s regulatory system on 24 October. A few days later, the same regulator suspended its Ant Group’s initial public offering of $ 37 billion on the day of the big listing of the fintech giant.
Recently, Ant Group has agreed a restructuring plan with Chinese regulators.
Chinese regulators have also launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba’s trading practices, requiring the company to sign special agreements prohibiting merchants from selling products on rival e-commerce platforms.
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