Open to buy Yahoo gate

already open acquisition of Yahoo's door, Alibaba can enter the door has not been confirmed.

When Jack Ma, the chairman of Alibaba Group, spoke about Yahoo in Silicon Valley, he said he was interested in Yahoo. Ma Yun used the "very" many times stressed, "for each other, both sides are very important." The remark was immediately captured by Wall Street and was immediately shaken by the global scientific community.

The Vice president of Alibaba Group, Tao Ran, confirmed in a telephone interview that Mr. Ma had made the speech in Silicon Valley and mentioned Yahoo in answer to the question. But Tao ran declined to comment on the takeover.

Ma Yun believes that the acquisition of Yahoo, money is not a problem, the problem is Yahoo's board of "political struggle."

"Alibaba is big enough and strategic to match"

In fact, the veteran Internet company has been on the news of the sale after Yahoo announced the dismissal of its CEO, Bartz, last month. Legendary management guru Welch also commented that "Yahoo CEO was dismissed as a big problem for Yahoo's management." In my opinion, Ma Yun should consider to buy Yahoo. ”

Yahoo, the internet giant, has become a "sick tiger" because of a series of missteps in its strategic and operational direction. Ms Bartz has transformed Yahoo from an internet company into a media company that operates only on the Internet, which has left Yahoo in a position to compete with technology companies such as Google and Facebook.

This September, Yahoo co-founder, "Chief" Jerry Yang, inside Yahoo disclosed a memo. Yahoo's consultancy has received multiple acquisitions, and Yahoo is preparing to release its current financial position for the buyer's reference – a strong signal that Yahoo is looking for buyers, according to the memo.

Subsequently, a number of large U.S. technology companies and media companies, including Microsoft, Silver Lake, DST and News Corp, as well as potential buyers such as private-equity firms and some outside the United States, have offered different mergers and acquisitions for all of Yahoo's businesses. (Note: According to the New York Times website on the evening of October 3, some private-equity firms and strategic investors are discussing with potential bidders such as Google, Facebook and Comcast to seek a strategic partnership. )

Alibaba is the only company that has publicly declared its position at the moment.

Interestingly, investors in Silver Lake and DST bought some of Alibaba Group employees at the end of September, costing about $1.6 billion trillion. This is an astonishing coincidence with the market rumors that Alibaba Group will join hands in Silver Lake and DST to buy Yahoo News. (Note: The Bloomberg news website October 4 quoted three unnamed sources as saying that Alibaba Group, Silver Lake and DST are discussing a joint bid for Yahoo.) )

There are comments that Alibaba Group as a potential buyer is a good reason: in China, the company almost become synonymous with the e-commerce industry, and Alibaba Group is expanding towards the global. Alibaba's business-to-business company bought two E-commerce service providers in California in 2010. Ma Yun has a strong will and motivation to buy Yahoo. Duncan Clark, chairman of the telecommunications consultancy, Duncan Clark.

In addition, Yahoo now owns 40% of Alibaba's stake, which is also considered Yahoo's most valuable asset, if the third party to buy Yahoo, according to Yahoo and Alibaba in 2005 agreement: must give its 15-day exclusive period for repurchase shares. After that, Yahoo can sell it to other companies.

According to Forbes magazine, Alibaba's acquisition of Yahoo has some unique advantages, "because there are few companies like Alibaba Group big enough or strategic to match the company," and Alibaba Group itself also want to further expand in the U.S. market. This is also the consensus view of Wall Street investment banks.

Acquisitions or faces multiple risks, but things are not so simple.

As Mr Ma said at Stanford University, buying Yahoo is not a problem, the problem is the "political struggle" of Yahoo's board. There is also a precedent, in 2010, Microsoft issued a bid of more than 45 billion dollars to try to buy Yahoo, then its board of directors because the disagreement was unable to reach an agreement finally rejected the offer.

Yahoo's employees are also uncertain about the takeover. Due to cultural differences between the country and the company, some employees said that the sale of Yahoo to Alibaba Group will embarrass Yahoo. According to the usual idea, you can sell the company to companies such as Google and Facebook, rather than a company you used to be a big shareholder.

Greater obstruction may come from America itself. Under the foreign Investment and National Security Act, which is currently under way in the United States, foreign companies will have to face scrutiny from the US Overseas Investment Review Board (CFIUS) if they are to acquire U.S. companies. Chinese acquirers are extremely unlikely to pass the review after China's third-largest oil company, CNOOC, tried to buy the US Unocal oil Company in 2005 with 18.5 billion of billions of dollars, as Congress used legal means to thwart eventual abandonment; Similarly, in 2010, Huawei, which bought 2 million U.S. dollars for a 3leaf patent, was proposed by Cfius at the time that the deal would pose a threat to U.S. national security and that Huawei would eventually withdraw its takeover.

Even in the private sector, Alibaba buys Yahoo's possible action, also faces the resistance. Many activists ignore the fact that Alibaba is a private company, and Chester, head of the center's Digital Democracy, believes that U.S. data cannot be kept in the hands of Chinese Internet companies associated with the Chinese government, Alibaba will be able to monitor millions of Americans after the takeover of Yahoo.

Neil Torpey, chairman of the Hong Kong branch of Hastings law firm Du Ying, also believes that some parties may not want to see a frequently used American site being acquired by a non-US company. Others may draw the US Overseas Investment Commission to review the deal for political reasons, after all, when the U.S. government is in the offing. The main business direction of Hastings law firm is company law.

"I personally think the biggest obstacle is political," said Xingdong, chairman of China's Internet lab. "The U.S. government can not allow a Chinese company to buy the largest news portal in the United States and become a Chinese operator." This is a much bigger hurdle than going to America to buy a mine, an oil field, or a car company or a computer company. ”

These uncertainties will put Alibaba in the bid for Yahoo.

On October 7, Yahoo's interim CEO, Tim Morse, was ambiguous in answering the sales question at a high-level meeting of the company's Tim Morse at Yahoo., saying that companies that provide good care to employees, shareholders and consumers are good buyers – which seems to be pointing at Alibaba. (Note: The FT reported October 7 that Yahoo is close to a deal to sell 35% of its Yahoo Japan (4689.TO) stake. Yahoo Japan's stake is seen as an asset that can be disposed of quickly, with a stake of about $19 billion trillion, according to people familiar with the report. SoftBank holds about 40% per cent of Yahoo Japan. )

Under all kinds of resistance, can Alibaba really go into the treasure trove of wealth like a myth?