Alibaba to Invest in Merged BesTV+Oriental Pearl Media Firm

21st Century Business Herald, 9/25/14

According to an investor in Chinese media conglomerate Shanghai Media Group (SMG), e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) will make an RMB 9-digit strategic investment in an unnamed publicly traded media company. The target of Alibaba's investment will reportedly be a new media conglomerate formed through the merger of Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group subsidiaries BesTV New Media (600637.SH) and Shanghai Oriental Pearl (600832.SH).

As previously announced, the newly formed company will seek to raise RMB 10 bln through private placement. A portion of the RMB 10 bln figure will be used to acquire other businesses from SMEG subsidiary Shanghai Media Group (which is also the parent company of BesTV New Media), such as TV and online retailer Shanghai Oriental CJ, while nearly half of the funds will be set aside for investment in the fields of internet TV and over the top (OTT) technology.

Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Update: SMEG to Merge BesTV and Shanghai Oriental Pearl" MD 9/18/14 issue.

Keywords: M&A Shanghai Media Group SMEG television Oriental Pearl Internet TV BesTV 600637.SH 600832.SH Alibaba Group OTT BABA B2C TV shopping channel e-commerce

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