John Battelle's blog on the search industry points to a series of gossipy posts suggesting that Yahoo is about to purchase 35% of Alibaba.com. In the newspaper world, August has always been called the "silly season" when the best wild rumours find a place on the news pages. I wonder if this falls into that category?
Yahoo and Alibaba Hook Up?: "That's the latest rumor flying around - my god folks, it's f'ing August, take a break from the dealmaking!..."
(Via John Battelle's Searchblog.)
Alibaba has been keeping its IPO powder dry until it felt the market was really right. It doesn't need the money having raised a good deal in private placements last year for investing in its Taobao auction site which is giving eBay a serious run for its money in China. We shall see.
Update: Well, the China Daily isn't usually known as a gossip rag....not a great newspaper, but not a gossip rag....and it has reported sources at Softbank, a major investor in Alibaba.com, saying that a deal is almost done.
...and more: A Reuters story, still based on rumour but...you've got to love this...carried as a leading item by Yahoo, now puts the deal at $1 billion plus Yahoo China injected into Alibaba.com. Sounds like a great deal for Jack Ma, Joe Tsai and the team if its true. It's supposed to signed tomorrow.
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