Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced on Tuesday its plans to split its business into six distinct units covering e-commerce, media, and cloud services. The company stated that each unit will explore potential fundraising opportunities, including initial public offerings.
Following the announcement, pre-market trading of Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares rose 3.5 percent, indicating positive investor sentiment towards the company's restructuring efforts.
The company revealed that the six main units into which the company will be restructured are Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group, and Digital Media and Entertainment Group.
To ensure effective management, each unit will be headed by a dedicated CEO and a board of directors, it said. This move is aimed at streamlining the company's operations and optimising its resources to enhance efficiency and profitability.
The company stated that Daniel Zhang will remain in his positions as chairman and CEO of the company. In addition, the company will adopt a holding company management model. Zhang will also serve as the CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group.
The announcement of Alibaba Group's restructuring comes just one day after the founder of the company, Jack Ma, made his first public appearance in mainland China in over a year.
Ma was spotted at a primary school in Hangzhou. His absence from China was due to his departure in late 2021, as the country's regulatory crackdown on the tech sector was just beginning.
Ma's time abroad came to represent a significant shift in fortune for China's private sector, with his empire and the technology industry as a whole becoming targets of Beijing's regulatory efforts.
First Published: Mar 28, 2023 5:51 PM IST
