Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the e-commerce giant headed by billionaire Jack Ma, agreed to buy Hong Kong's South China Morning Post and other affiliated media assets as the Internet tycoon follows in the footsteps of Jeff Bezos in pursuing the revival of a century-old newspaper.
The purchase includes the flagship newspaper and other related businesses including magazine and recruitment, SCMP Group Ltd said in a statement. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The SCMP, once the envy of the industry in terms of profitability, has in recent years joined other mastheads in struggling to attract advertisers amid the rise of free publications online. Control of the city's premier English- language broadsheet has been unchanged since media magnate Rupert Murdoch sold most of his stake to Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok in 1993.
The purchase includes the flagship newspaper and other related businesses including magazine and recruitment, SCMP Group Ltd said in a statement. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The SCMP, once the envy of the industry in terms of profitability, has in recent years joined other mastheads in struggling to attract advertisers amid the rise of free publications online. Control of the city's premier English- language broadsheet has been unchanged since media magnate Rupert Murdoch sold most of his stake to Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok in 1993.