Alibaba's Jack Ma seeking stake in SCMP publisher -Bloomberg (updated)

Great Wall Pan Asia Holdings

23/11/2015 10:29

* Talks in advanced stage, announcement soon - Bloomberg 
    * Latest move by Ma, affiliates to expand media empire 
 
 (Adds SCMP declining to comment, context) 
    SHANGHAI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Jack Ma, founder and executive 
chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd  BABA.N , is in talks to 
buy a stake in the publisher of Hong Kong's South China Morning 
Post (SCMP), Bloomberg reported on Monday citing unidentified 
sources familiar with the matter. 
    The discussions were at an advanced stage and a signing 
ceremony would be announced soon, Bloomberg said. It did not 
give the size of the stake, financial details or mention how Ma, 
who controls various investment vehicles, would invest. 
    Alibaba and SCMP declined to comment. 
    There has been speculation this month that Ma or his 
e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba were in talks to take a stake in 
the newspaper's parent SCMP Group Ltd  0583.HK . The China Daily 
newspaper reported rumours of the investment on Nov. 9. 
    The investment would add to Alibaba and its affiliates' 
growing media empire, the latest in a string of deals in news 
and advertising. 
    In June, Alibaba paid $194 million for a stake in the 
mainland's China Business News.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nASB09QP5 
    Ma has had a fraught relationship with the SCMP in the past. 
In 2013, a reporter for the newspaper quit after quoting Ma as 
having made remarks in support of Beijing's violent crackdown on 
pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square in 1989. 
    Any deal for the city's premier English-language broadsheet 
may raise eyebrows in Hong Kong, where many remain proud of the 
city's political separation from China's mainland. Ma, a Chinese 
citizen, appears frequently with leaders from the highest 
echelons of the Communist Party, and both sides have voiced 
their support and admiration for each other. 
    SCMP Group's shares have been suspended since February 2013 
because it did not meet the minimum required percentage of total 
issued share capital available on the public market. 
 
 (Reporting by Jacqueline Wong and John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI, 
Clare Baldwin in HONG KONG and Paul Carsten in BEIJING; Editing 
by Kazunori Takada and Christopher Cushing) 
 ((john.ruwitch@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 6104 1786; Reuters 
Messaging: john.ruwitch.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: ALIBABA SCMP/