 "Alibaba offers to buy China video site Youku in $3.6B deal")
E-commerce giant Alibaba says it is offering to buy up the rest of Chinese video streaming site Youku Tudou, in its latest move to branch out beyond its core business of online shopping.
Alibaba Group Holdings said today that it already owns 18.3 per cent of Youku Toudou's US-listed shares and has proposed to buy the remaining stock for USD 26.60 in cash per share.
The offer price is 30.2 per cent higher than Youku's last closing price on the New York Stock Exchange.
After subtracting Youku's approximately USD 1 billion in cash on hand, Alibaba is paying about USD 3.6 billion to buy the remaining stake.
Alibaba has been expanding into films and the deal gives it a platform to broadcast its content to China's growing ranks of middle-class consumers.
