The world-famous internet bazaar, Alibaba, decided to review its investment portfolio. It sold almost $360 million of stock in Chinese streaming platform Bilibili Inc. at a significant discount. The decision could be explained by the company’s intention to refocus its vast business empire on core retailing as well as technology-oriented fields from the cloud to artificial intelligence.
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) managed to sell 30.85 million shares of Bilibili at $11.60 apiece, giving new owners a 5.5% discount as if it were Black Friday. In response, Bilibili shares in Hong Kong fell by 8.4%.
Over the past year, Alibaba has sold off shares in such diverse companies as electric car maker XPeng Inc., AI technology provider SenseTime Group Inc., and GogoX Holdings Ltd. These dramatic asset changes are part of a grand plan to turn the business empire into an oasis of technological advancement, from cloud services to artificial intelligence.
