Taking into account $1.1 billion net cash owned by Youku Tudou as of June 30, the net cash expected to be paid would be about $3.5 billion.
Advertisement
The deal values the whole company is US$4.2 billion based on the number of outstanding shares as of December 31.
The e-commerce giant already has 18.3% ownership stake in the video streaming company and has offered to buy out the remaining 81.7% in an all cash deal. 15, Youku Tudou had a market capitalization of $3.99 billion.
Youku Tudou, which itself was formed as a merger of two platforms Youku and Tudou, is the only Chinese video platform that has its own share listing. Youku administrator and CEO Victor Koo will stay in charge of the organization.
The offer, a vote of confidence in China’s economy by Alibaba’s Jack Massachusetts, is the latest in a string of U.S.-listed Chinese companies being taken private by big shareholders.
Youku now has more than 500 million active users. Details of the conference call are as follows: global: +65 6713 5521 US: +1 347 549 4095 United Kingdom: +44 203 713 5083 Hong Kong: +852 3018 6768 China: 400 624 0406 or 800 870 0531 Conference ID: 62411957 A webcast of this conference call will be available on Alibaba Group’s Investor Relations website located at http://alibabagroup.com/en/ir/home.
Alibaba said the deal would expand the existing partnership between Alibaba and Youku, and combine Alibaba’s data-driven platforms in e-commerce, media and advertising with Youku’s digital video franchise.
“We are pleased to submit the proposal to the Youku board of directors”, said Daniel Zhang, chief executive officer of Alibaba Group.
Alibaba is best known for its e-trade administrations – which incorporate its Taobao commercial center and T-Mall webpage for brands – however it has likewise made enormous has content as impact of an offer to be more present in Chinese Internet’s clients’ every day lives.
As many as 5 brokerage firms have rated Youku Tudou Inc. The special committee will retain independent legal and financial advisors to assist it in this process.
More tangible evidence of Alibaba’s media ambition can be found in Tmall Box Office, a Netflix-like service that it recently launched in China, and its move into the living room with smart TVs and set-top boxes.
Tudou.com is a leading online video company in China, where users can upload, view and share videos.
Advertisement
Following the news, Youku’s shares have risen by 22.37% and are now trading at $25 in pre-market trading as of 7:17 AM EDT.
