Alibaba Shares fell nearly 3% in after-hours trading after regulatory files revealed Softbank had sold a majority stake in the company.
SoftBank has sold its stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant in a forward contract worth about $7.2 billion. analysis of company filings by the Financial Times released Wednesday. With the sale, the report noted that SoftBank now holds only 3.8% of his stake in Alibaba.
It was just three years ago that SoftBank retained a nearly 25% stake in Alibaba, worth more than $100 billion. At the time, Alibaba was SoftBank’s most valuable investment.
But for years, SoftBank and its Vision Fund have posted huge quarterly losses amid a tech sector slowdown that has hit valuations. In February, the Vision Fund posted his pre-tax loss of ¥660 billion (equivalent to $5 billion), its fourth consecutive quarter of losses.
At the time, Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of a Japanese technology conglomerate and holding company, said SoftBank would operate in a “defensive” mode and become more “conservative.”
Son invested $20 million in Alibaba in 2000, helping the e-commerce startup grow into one of the world’s largest technology companies.
Alibaba announced in March that it would split into six business groups, with each unit receiving its own funding and potentially going public. Alibaba said in a statement that the move “aims to unlock shareholder value and promote market competitiveness.”
In 2020, Son stepped down from Alibaba’s board of directors. Shortly after Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma stepped down from SoftBank’s board.
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