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Alibaba is rumored to be in talks with Japanese cellular carrier Softbank, a partnership that would allow the group to purchase all assets owned by Yahoo, Inc.
According to sources at Bloomberg also involved in talks with the two company’s are Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.
News has circulated for months that Alibaba CEO Jack Ma would like to acquire Yahoo, however he required outside capital since an Alibaba purchase would come with a large tax penalty that his company could not afford.
In the meantime as I reported on Wednesday Yahoo is now rumored to be seeking a minority stake owner for the company which would allow them to retain control of the organization while perhaps selling off their Yahoo assets in Japan including their 40 percent stage in the Alibaba group and their 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan.
Complicating Alibaba’s attempts could be bidding from various other groups including Microsoft and Silver Lake Partners and TPG Capital who are rumored to have big in the vicinity of $16-$18 per share, higher than Yahoo’s current trading price but lower than the $20-$22 per share the company would like to receive.
While Alibaba is believed to be waiting for Yahoo to open talks there are more rumors pointing to the possibility of a hostile takeover.
