Yahoo and Alibaba agree on Alipay

29 July 2011 Last updated at 18:04 GMT Alibaba Group is one of the world's biggest internet conglomerates. Yahoo and Chinese internet company Alibaba have reached an agreement over its online payment service Alipay.

On Tuesday, Yahoo said Alibaba - in which Yahoo owns a stake - had spun off its online payment service Alipay without informing it.

Yahoo and Alibaba have now agreed that Alibaba would benefit from any future financial gain, such as a public offering.

Alibaba will also license some of its intellectual property to Alipay.

Alibaba will receive a minimum of $2bn (?1.2bn) and a maximum of $6bn from the sale of Alipay, under the terms of the agreement.

Earlier in the week, Yahoo said Alipay was transferred to a Chinese company, owned mostly by Alibaba chief executive Jack Ma, in August 2010.

Yahoo said it only found out about it in March this year. However, Alibaba insists the transaction was talked about at a 2009 board meeting.

Yahoo owns a 43% stake in Alibaba.

View the original article here

China arrests 36 in Alibaba fraud

1 July 2011 Last updated at 06:47 GMT Alibaba's reputation took a hit as a result of the online fraud on its e-commerce website Chinese police have arrested 36 people connected with operating an online fraud on Alibaba.com and other websites, the company has said.

Those arrested stand accused of duping overseas buyers of more than $6m (?3.7m) by posing as suppliers on the Chinese e-commerce websites.

The fraud resulted in the chief executive and chief operating officer of Alibaba quitting earlier this year.

Alibaba is China's largest e-commerce group.

"The arrest of the suspects hits online scammers hard," said Alibaba.com boss Jonathan Lu.

The company said the arrests were made following a 40-day investigation earlier this year.

Reduced complaints

Alibaba said it had introduced strict procedures in an attempt to prevent a repeat of such cases.

As a result, the number of fraud complaints received monthly by the website declined by 70% between February and June, Alibaba officials said.

The company said it would keep up its efforts to ensure the safety of its consumers.

"We will continue to co-operate with defrauded buyers and police to pursue the investigation, arrest and sentencing of those who commit crimes using our platform," said Linda Kozlowski of Alibaba.com.

"If scammers think they can hide on the internet and that no-one will go after them, they are wrong," she added.

View the original article here

Yahoo and Alibaba set for talks

16 May 2011 Last updated at 06:15 GMT Alibaba Group is one of the world's biggest internet conglomerates. Yahoo and Chinese internet company Alibaba have said they are trying to resolve their disagreement, presenting a united front after a public spat.

In a joint statement, the two companies said that they were "engaged in and committed to productive negotiations", but provided no other details.

On Tuesday, Yahoo said Alibaba had spun off its online payment service Alipay without informing it, sending its shares down sharply.

Yahoo owns a 43% stake in Alibaba.

Shares in Yahoo ended at $16.55 on Friday, down 11% from Tuesday's closing price.

Yahoo said Alipay was transferred to a Chinese company, owned mostly by Alibaba chief executive Jack Ma, in August 2010.

Yahoo said it only found out about it in March this year.

However, Alibaba insists the transaction was talked about at a 2009 board meeting.

On Saturday, Alibaba had issued a statement saying the move was "legal and 100% transparent".

View the original article here