Yahoo and Chinese search engine company Alibaba Group have issued contradictory statements over the transfer of ownership of the online payment service Alipay.
Yahoo said that the Alibaba Group had transferred ownership of Alipay to its chief executive and founder Jack Ma. Yahoo added that it came to know about the transfer only after it was completed in 31 March and that deal took place without getting approval from Alibaba’s board.
In its response, Alibaba said that Yahoo was aware of the transaction as it had a board seat held by former Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang, who is also a Yahoo director. The company said that the board was informed about the transfer in July 2009.
In 2005, Yahoo purchased a 43% stake in the company for over $1bn and Yahoo’s Chinese assets. However, Ma has stated earlier that Alibaba plans to buy out Yahoo’s stake.
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