Yahoo sells half of Alibaba stake

Yahoo has agreed to sell half of its 40% stake in Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba for about 7.1 billion US dollars, securing a financial lifeline for the struggling US internet company.

The deal, announced in the US, will see Alibaba Group buying back the stake from Yahoo for 6.3 billion US dollars cash and up to 800 million US dollars of Alibaba preference shares.