Alibaba acquires minority stake in Focus Media

Shanghai, 19th July: This week, China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, announced the company would pay US$1.43 billion for a 6.62% share in Focus Media Information Technology Company. Alibaba also announced plans to acquire an additional 5% interest in Focus Media within the next 12 months.

Alibaba will purchase a 10% stake in entity controlled by Focus Media founder and Chairman Jason Nanchin Jiang. At the same time, New Retail Strategic Opportunities Fund L.P., a non-consolidated, Alibaba-related party will buy a 1.37% interest in Focus Media. This results a total investment of US$2.23 billion in exchange for a 10.32% stake in Focus Media.