Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding will pay $266 million to acquire South China Morning Post and related assets of the SCMP Group Ltd from Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok in an all-cash deal.
The deal includes the SCMP's magazines, outdoor media, education and digital business, SCMP said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx), reports Nikkei Asian Review.
The deal will exclude investments of the SCMP, including the newspaper's newsroom in the Causeway Bay district.
The assets being acquired generated HK$1.2 billion in revenues and HK$136.2 million in pre-tax report last year.
Kuok's Kerry Group took control of the SCMP in 1993 from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, paying $349 million to acquire a 35% stake.
The sale of the 112-year-old English newspaper to Chinese billionaire and Alibaba founder Jack Ma has also created uncertainty over the editorial direction following acquisition.
"I think it will be interesting to see if the existing reporters and editorial staff would like to continue. It's worth watching," said James Sung, a political analyst at City University of Hong Kong.
Alibaba Executive Vice-Chairman Joe Tsai denied his company "would compromise the newspaper's editorial independence in a letter to readers".
The deal marks Alibaba Group Holding's first foray into overseas media.
