Alibaba reveals breakup plan
March 29, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba Group is to split into six separate units. Each of the new divisions will have its own executive team, CEO and board of directors. The Holding company reported revenues of $134 billion (€123.4bn) in 2022. SoftBank Group is a 23.9 per cent shareholder.
The entertainment division will contain its film studio, Alibaba Pictures plus video streaming business Youku and other related activity and is currently likely to be called the Digital Media & Entertainment Group and headed up by Fan Luyuan who has been running Alibaba Pictures since 2017.
Alibaba’s new structure, it said in a regulatory statement, will “empower all our businesses to become more agile, enhance decision making, enable faster responses to market changes and promote innovation to capture opportunities in their respective markets and industries, thereby unlocking the value of Alibaba Group’s various businesses,” said the company, “Each business group will also have the flexibility to raise outside capital and potentially to seek its own IPO, with the exception of Taobao Tmall Business Group, which will remain wholly-owned by Alibaba Group.”
Taobao is Alibaba’s shipping business. The other – now independent – businesses are Cloud Intelligence Group (including cloud, AI, DingTalk and other related activities), Local Services Group (including Amap, Ele.me and others), Global Digital Business Group (including Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol, Daraz, Alibaba.com and others), as well as Cainiao Smart Logistics, according to reports.