Alibaba could be planning Hong Kong media raid
Alibaba may be set to make a major foray into the media and entertainment industries.
After announcing on Friday it was taking over China's top online video provider in a cash deal,rumors surfaced over the weekend that the mainland-based company is "in discussions" toinvest in Hong Kong-based SMCP Group Ltd, which publishes the English-language newspaperSouth China Morning Post.
On Sunday, a spokesman for Alibaba told China Daily the company does not comment onmarket rumors. The communications department at SCMP Group did not respond to an inquiry.
The rumor surfaced after SMCP announced on Friday that Wang Xiangwei, the newspaper'seditor-in-chief, was stepping down and Tammy Tam, Wang's No 2 since 2012, would take overfrom Jan 1.
Meanwhile, Shanghai-based mobile news app The Paper reported that Alibaba is in talks to takea stake in Sina Corp, which runs online news portal sina.com.cn and Weibo, the Chineseequivalent of Twitter.
Industry observers said that since June, Alibaba has poured billions of dollars into mediaorganizations, including online video giant Youku Tudou Inc.
Tian Hou, an analyst at TH Capital in Beijing, said Alibaba's media expansion is "very likely".Huang Guofeng, an analyst at the Internet consultancy Analysys International in Beijing, saidAlibaba may have a "big vision to enter people's living rooms".
