According to the deal Alibaba reached with Yahoo and Softbank on July 29, Alibaba will receive a sum of between US$2 billion and $6 billion for an IPO of Alipay or any other type of Alipay liquidation, which means Yahoo could secure an amount of between US$860 million and 2.58 billion, and Softbank will land between US$660 and 1.98 billion. But where and when will Alipay go public？
In a recent interview, Alibaba CFO Cai Chongxin told an analyst that Alipay is a Chinese company, hence it will go public in China. “Alipay needs some time to build its business outside of Taobao, and it is too early to talk about the IPO right now. ” Cai said, “Given the size of Chinese market, although Taobao has the chance to dominate the market, it faces the challenges from other Chinese ecommerce companies. Alipay hopes to become these companies’ partner.”
Cai also said that the relationship between Taobao and Alipay would not change.
According to the 8-K file Yahoo submitted to SEC, Alipay will be listed within 10 years. In addition, a separate company needs to be set up. This company will be held by Alibaba CEO Jack Ma and Cai. If Alipay doesn’t go public in seven years, this company will pre-pay Yahoo and Softbank $500 million, and the rest will be paid when Alipay gets listed. If it fails to pay $500 million to Yahoo and Softbank in the seventh year, these two companies will get 50 million shares of Alibaba Group common stock held by Ma and Cai right now.
Alibaba CFO Cai Chongxin