News this week: China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, has acquired a controlling stake in Citic
21CN for US$171 million (HK$1.3
billion). On completion of the deal, Alibaba will reportedly hold 38.1% of
Citic 21CN, and 16.2% will be held by Yunfeng Capital – a private equity group set up by Alibaba’s
founder, Jack Ma.
Citic 21CN is a Hong
Kong-listed technology company that operates a pharmaceutical data platform in mainland
China. According to company’s filing with the stock exchange, Alibaba and
Yunfeng will acquire a combined 4.4 billion new shares in the company at HK$0.30
per share. China’s state-owned Citic Group will reportedly retain a 10% stake
in Citic 21CN.
An Alibaba e-mailed
statement read, “The transaction is the foundation for a strategic partnership
aiming at jointly driving development of a pharmaceutical-product information
platform.” The platform will use Citic 21CN’s drug data and Alibaba’s
e-commerce, cloud computing and “big data” capabilities, it also stated.
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