‘Significant progress’ in Alipay talks, says Yahoo! CEO

NEW YORK – Yahoo! chief executive Carol Bartz said Thursday that progress is being made in resolving a dispute with partner Alibaba over ownership of online payments service Alipay.

“We believe we’re making significant progress,” Bartz told financial analysts under questioning about the situation with Alipay and Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant in which Yahoo! holds a large stake.

Yahoo! notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month that ownership of Alipay, Alibaba’s payment platform, had been shifted to a Chinese firm owned mostly by Alibaba chief executive Jack Ma.

Yahoo! said the transfer was done without the knowledge or approval of Alibaba’s board of directors or shareholders, which also include Japan’s Softbank.

Alibaba’s Ma has said Yahoo! and Softbank were informed of the transfer of ownership and it was done to comply with Chinese licensing regulations.

Yahoo! owns a 43 percent stake in Alibaba, and an estimated 40 percent share of Alipay.

“We’re engaging with Softbank and Alibaba constructively,” Bartz said Thursday, adding that Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang and chief financial officer Tim Morse had visited Asia last week for talks.

“Alibaba management has been very committed and cooperative in working with Yahoo! and Softbank to achieve our objectives,” she said.

Bartz said it had been agreed upon in the talks that Alibaba Group would be “appropriately compensated for the value of Alipay” but she declined to provide any further details about the talks.

She also refused to engage in recriminations.

“We have agreed sincerely with Softbank and Alibaba Group that none of us is going to dicuss the past,” she said. “I’m holding our word.”

Yahoo! shares have fallen 13 percent since the dispute surfaced over Alipay. Yahoo! shares were up 0.09 percent on Thursday at $16.15.