Alibaba Group, China’s e-commerce giant, has bought the South China Morning Post and all other media assets from the SCMP Group, and has pledged to uphold editorial independence and to invest to strengthen the quality of the content.
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They also include the newspaper’s digital education and media businesses, as well as outdoor media, events & conference businesses.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Chinese firm recently purchased Youku Tudou – China’s answer to YouTube – for $3.6 billion, along with other related digital investments in companies including Snapchat.
The acquisitions are part of Alibaba’s strategy of diversifying away from its core Internet shopping business by tapping rising demand for online content from Chinese consumers.
With an age difference between the two companies of almost one hundred years, this is truly a mix of the old and the new.
A copy of South China Morning Post is displayed on a magazine rack at a coffee shop in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 11, 2015. With proven expertise in digital distribution, especially on mobile devices, Alibaba is in an excellent position to leverage technology to create content more efficiently and expand distribution without borders.
The Post has a wide worldwide following for its China coverage, which will likely be heavily scrutinized under its new ownership for any signs that it’s being softened.
He added: “In reporting the news, the SCMP will be objective, accurate and fair… day-to-day editorial decisions will be driven by editors in the newsroom, not in the corporate boardroom”.
According to Alibaba’s letter, the company doesn’t see the traditional media space as being a “sunset industry”.
Alibaba didn’t say how much it has paid for the newspaper and other media assets, but reports say it could be valued at about $100 million.
The newspaper’s magazine division has a license to publish the local Chinese-language editions of Cosmopolitan and Harper’s Bazaar.
Tsai also stressed that the Post would maintain its editorial independence. It took its first step into e-commerce in October by buying a majority stake in fashion site MyDress.com.
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SCMP Group has been suspended from trading since February 2013 after the company failed to have at least 25% of shares held by minority investors, the minimum proportion required for a company to trade its shares in Hong Kong.
