Chinese Internet giant Alibaba will pay HKD2.06 billion (USD265.8 million) for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, the newspaper said in a statement to the city’s stock exchange.
Alibaba “has agreed to purchase the media business of the [SCMP] Group for a cash consideration of HKD2,060,600,000,” the statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said.
The acquisition, announced on Friday, comes at a time when concern over press freedom in Hong Kong is growing after attacks on journalists, reports of pressure on editorial staff from authorities and increasing self-censorship.
The once globally renowned English-language paper was founded in 1903 and has long given international readers an insider’s perspective on Hong Kong and the mainland, but profits and sales have in recent years been hit by an industry-wide decline.
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch bought the SCMP in 1987, taking it private.
In 1993 Malaysia tycoon Robert Kuok’s Kerry Media bought a controlling interest, prompting an editorial shift towards Beijing.
Words: AFP
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