RUMOR: Alibaba Filing For An IPO In Hong Kong, Which Would Net Yahoo Billions
TechCrunchChinese Internet giant Alibaba reportedly filed for an IPO in Hong Kong.
There reports are coming from the Chinese press, and have been picked up at Fly On The Wall.
The IPO is said to raise $20 billion at a $100 billion valuation.
The company will be public in October, according to the reports.
There have been many reports about Alibaba filing for an IPO over the years. This could just be another one of those. But if it's not ...
This is huge news for Yahoo, which still owns a big stake in Alibaba. When Alibaba IPOs, Yahoo will sell 12% of its stake in the company, which will net it $12 billion pre-tax, $8 billion post-tax, says Yahoo shareholder Eric Jackson (assuming a $100 billion valuation).
While Yahoo is technically a technology company, much of its valuation is tied to the value of its stake in Alibaba. With the Alibaba IPO potentially coming, it's more cash to Yahoo.
Yahoo is down ~.65% this morning, still reeling from the news that Dan Loeb is leaving the company.