Alibaba Group $3.5 billion acquisition of Youku Tudou

Overview:

• Alibaba has acquired Youku Tudou—China's YouTube equivalent—for $3.5 billion in an all-cash transaction.
• In the process of the transaction, Youku Tudou operated as a privately held entity under Alibaba, with all its American Depository shares delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
• Under the private ownership of Alibaba, Youku Tudou delivered US films and drama series to over a third of China’s population.
• The acquisition has given Alibaba access to over half a billion online video users, giving it a huge boost in its bid to rule the Chinese digital media market.
• It has been forecast that the PRC’s online video market and will be worth Rmb90 billion by 2018, up from Rmb24 billion last year.
• Youku Tudou has over 500 million unique visitors per month and 170 million daily visitors.
• Morgan Stanley Asia acted as financial advisor to Alibaba.
• JPMorgan Securities acted as financial advisor to the Special Committee.
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as US legal advisor to Alibaba, while Fangda Partners acted as PRC counsel.
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom provided US law advice to the Special Committee, and TransAsia provided PRC law advice.
• Kirkland & Ellis was legal advisor to JPMorgan.
• Conyers Dill & Pearman served as Cayman Islands legal advisor to Youku Tudou, and Walkers provided offshore counsel to Alibaba.  

Adam Majeed - Asia Editor