Alibaba Agrees To Buy South China Morning Post, And Other Media Assets

Alibaba Group Holding Limited said Friday it has agreed to acquire the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, as well as other media assets owned by the SCMP Group Ltd . No financial terms were disclosed. The deal aims to bring coverage of China in the English language to a broader global readership, Alibaba said in a statement. "This is a proposition that is in high demand by readers around the world who care to understand the world's second largest economy," said Joe Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group. The other assets include a portfolio of magazine titles, including the Hong Kong editions of Esquire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, The PEAK and Harper's Bazaar. They also include the newspaper's digital education and media businesses, as well as outdoor media, events & conference businesses. Alibaba shares were down 1% in premarket trade, and have lost 19% of their value in the year so far, while the S&P 500 is down 0.2%.