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Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, said on Friday that it had discovered suspicious accounting at a Hong Kong film company that it paid about $800 million just two months ago to control.
The disclosure may raise concerns that Alibaba, which is preparing what may be the biggest initial public offering in American history, could be biting off more than it can chew in a recent spree of acquisitions.
The film company, Alibaba Pictures Group, formerly ChinaVision Media Group, said on Friday that it had discovered "possible noncompliant accounting treatments" involving insufficient provision for impairments on assets, or write-downs, which were not identified.
The company added that it would miss an August 31 deadline to release its earnings for the first six months of the year and that its shares would be suspended from trading until its audit committee could complete a formal inquiry.
©2014 The New York Times News Service
