Alibaba Hires Lobbyist to prep Yahoo Buyout Bid

By on December 29, 2011 in Internet

Alibaba - Yahoo

Alibaba has hired the lobbying firm of former White House official Kenneth Duberstein in a major step towards the company preparing to buy Yahoo, according to multiple reports. Alibaba CEO Jack Ma is already on the record saying he’d like to buy the entirety of the Silicon Valley Internet company if the opportunity arose, and has reportedly been working on a deal with a group of investors for some time now. Yahoo currently owns 40 percent of Alibaba.

Hiring the Washington, DC-based Duberstein Group is a tip-off to Ma’s plans because of the political hurdles likely ahead for any potential deal. Alibaba is a Chinese-owned company, and the U.S. government has previously cited “national security concerns” as rationale for blocking other acquisitions. Presumably the influence of a powerful DC lobbying firm could help push the deal through despite tenuous Sino-U.S. relations.

While nothing approaching an official offer has been made, Bloomberg reported yesterday that a group including Alibaba was prepping a bid at $16.60 per share. Yahoo’s stock jumped 5 percent on the news in after-hours trading, though it’s down around 20 percent for the year. The company is currently valued at around $16.6 Billion, and multiple reports put a sale price in the $20-25 billion range should an Alibaba-centered deal materialize.

So here’s my question for you: Alibaba and Yahoo or not, should the U.S. government have a say in the sale of a U.S.-based Internet company to a Chinese-owned buyer? Are there security risks in play here? How should global politics play into international mergers and acquisitions, particularly when we’re talking about one of the largest Internet companies in the world?

[via The Street]

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Noah Kravitz mourned the day that Star Castle was replaced in the pizza parlour he frequented as a kid. The sadness ended when he saw an older kid make it to the Ninth Key level on the Pac Man that took his place. Years later he’s become a fixture of consumer tech reporting on the InterWebs and TV, and Galaga vies with Zoo Keeper as his all-time favorite arcade games. His loves of music, games, TV, video editing and yapping endlessly at anyone who’ll listen have all been channeled into an Internet addiction that spans screens big and small and devices portable, pocketable, and best left on his desk. Noah has been reporting on gadgets and media for a decade and a half now, including writing, podcasts and videos for PhoneDog, MacDirectory, Maximum PC, PowerBook Central, and a few other publications. He’s also written about the arts, education, and sports for some magazines you’ve likely never heard of, and has invaded your television talking about consumer electronics on CNBC, Fox Business Network, and a host of local TV stations.

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