Alibaba Group Acquires SCMP Group

Alibaba Group this week has acquired South China Morning Post and other media assets of SCMP Group Limited. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal will combine Alibaba’s massive online reach and digital strength with SCMP’s editorial excellence, paving the way for the 100-year-old newspaper to transform into a global media powerhouse covering China for readers around the world.

Joe Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman of Alibaba Group, said in a statement: “The South China Morning Post is unique because it focuses on coverage of China in the English language. This is a proposition that is in high demand by readers around the world who care to understand the world’s second largest economy”, and also added that: “Our vision is to expand the SCMP’s readership globally through digital distribution and easier access to content.”

Robin Hu, Chief Executive Officer of SMCP, said in a statement: “With proven expertise especially in mobile Internet, Alibaba is in an excellent position to leverage technology to create content more efficiently and reach a global audience”, and also added that: “We welcome Alibaba’s commitment to invest additional resources in its editorial and business operations to make the SCMP even stronger.”

Apart from the Groups' flagship publication the South China Morning Post newspaper, the SMCP deal also includes the acquisition of the magazine, recruitment, outdoor media, events & conferences, and digital media businesses of SCMP Group Limited. The deal also includes a portfolio of magazine titles, which include the Hong Kong editions of Esquire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, The PEAK and Harper’s Bazaar, and other SMCP titles including the Sunday Morning Post, its digital platforms SCMP.com and related mobile apps, and two Chinese websites Nanzao.com and Nanzaozhinan.com.

Founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and headquartered in Hangzhou, China Alibaba Group is a Chinese ecommerce company that provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals. In addition to its ecommerce business, Alibaba also provides electronic payment services Alipay, an online travel service platform Alitrip, and data-centric cloud services AliCloud.Alibaba is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume.

Founded in 1903, SMCP Group is a publishing group based in Hongkong. SMCP’s flagship publication is the South China Morning Post, a daily English-language newspaper in Hongkong with a circulation of 104,000.Other subsidiaries included Coastline International Limited, Mai Xin Advertising Communications Co., Ltd., Recruitment Consulting Networks Limited, SMCP Magazines Publishing, and Lyton Investment Limited. First published on November 1903, the South China Morning Post is one of the leading English-language newspapers in Asia. 

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