CHINA: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's biggest electronic-commerce company, no longer needs Yahoo! Inc because the US partner is moving away from its search-engine technology, the head of Alibaba's listed unit said. "Why do we need a financial investor with no business synergy or technology?" Alibaba.com Ltd Chief Executive Officer David Wei said in an interview in Hangzhou, China, today. "The biggest thing that has changed is Yahoo lost its own search-engine technology. The biggest reason for such a partnership doesn't exist." The comments may fuel speculation of a widening rift between Alibaba Group and its biggest shareholder, eight months after the Chinese company called Yahoo "reckless" for backing Google Inc in a dispute with China's government. Alibaba is now more likely to partner with Beijing-based Sohu.com Inc on Internet search, according to analysts including Jim Tang. "Yahoo's operations in China haven't fared very well since they were taken over by Alibaba, and Yahoo's concerned about that," said Tang, an analyst at Shenyin Wanguo Securities in Shanghai. Alibaba's recent investment in Sohu's search unit probably means less room for collaboration with Yahoo, he said. Alibaba Group and its Chairman Jack Ma last month agreed to buy a 16 percent stake in Sohu's search-engine unit, China's third-biggest behind Baidu Inc and Google, according to research company Analysys International. Yahoo struggles Yahoo accounts for less than 1 percent of China's online search market, down from about 15 percent in 2005, when the US company sold its Chinese operations to Alibaba, according to Li Zhi, an analyst at Analysys, a research firm in Beijing. Any decision on Alibaba's relations with Yahoo rests with the parent company, Wei said today. May Petry, a Yahoo spokeswoman, declined to comment on the company's plans related to Alibaba. In 2005, Alibaba Group sold a stake of about 40 percent to Yahoo for $1 billion and ownership of Yahoo's Chinese unit. The Hangzhou-based company now operates e-commerce businesses including Alibaba.com and Taobao.com, in addition to Yahoo's local website. Wei's comments come less than a week after the South China Morning Post reported Yahoo may consider selling advertising to companies in China on its Hong Kong site, citing Alfred Tsoi, Yahoo's managing director in Hong Kong. "We should re-evaluate our relationship if that comes true," Wei said today. Alibaba hasn't been notified by Yahoo that it intends to start any new business in China, he said. In January, Alibaba criticized Yahoo for announcing it was "aligned" with Google, which said "highly sophisticated" cyber attacks from inside China prompted its decision to review its operations in the country. In September 2009, Yahoo raised HK$1.14 billion ($147 million) selling its entire stake in Alibaba.com, Alibaba Group's unit for serving small businesses. Yahoo's stake in the parent was unaffected by that transaction.
Read more: Alibaba: We don't need Yahoo - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/internet/Alibaba-We-dont-need-Yahoo/articleshow/6531486.cms#ixzz0zJErFlv1
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