Yahoo (YHOO) Alibaba Dispute on Alipay, is it legal and 100% transparent?


Yahoo! Inc (YHOO) prized investment in Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has turned into a stock market millstone. Alibaba's recently disclosed spinoff of an online-payment unit called Alipay is raising worries about the value of Yahoo's 43 percent stake in Alibaba.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Jack Ma said Saturday the firm's move to transfer ownership of its online payment unit was “legal and 100 percent transparent”, rejecting protests by US-based Yahoo! Yahoo! holds about a 40% stake in Alibaba Group.

Yahoo! said the move was made in August although it and another major Alibaba stakeholder, Japan's Softbank, were only informed in March. Yahoo said this week it wasn't informed until March 31 about an August 2010 transfer of Alipay equity to a vehicle outside of Alibaba. Yahoo is in talks with Alibaba Group and Softbank to “preserve the integrity of this investment and maximize shareholder value,” the company said yesterday.

Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, fell 62 cents, or 3.6 percent, in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Friday.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, an integrated oil and gas company, posted its second-consecutive record quarterly net profit in the first quarter. Its first-quarter net profit of 10.99 billion Brazilian reais ($6.72 billion), up 42% from BRL7.73 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Petrobras's first-quarter earnings past year-on-year gains posted by rivals Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSB), which saw net profits climb 36% and 30%, respectively. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), meanwhile, posted a stunning 69% surge in net profits.

In another news, TransCanada Corp. (TRP) said its Keystone crude oil pipeline has resumed operations, 393 barrels of oil have been recovered.

BancTec Inc. plans to sell up to an estimated $75 million of common stock, Its clients include Aflac Inc. (AFL), Bank of America Corp. (BAC) Discover Financial Services (DFS) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ).

UniCredit SpA (UNCFF) chief executive Federico Ghizzoni Saturday said that the bank will decide in coming days whether to participate in the financing of the multi-billion takeover of Parmalat SpA (PLT) by French peer Lactalis.

Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Stillwater Mining (SWC) from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research, upgraded shares of Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc (ISPH) from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating, upgraded shares of ProAssurance Co. (PRA) from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating, downgraded shares of P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. (PTSI) from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating, upgraded shares of Scientific Learning Co. (SCIL) from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating, upgraded shares of Warner Chilcott (WCRX) from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating, upgraded shares of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating, upgraded shares of Park-Ohio Holdings Corp (PKOH) from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating, upgraded shares of Susser Holdings Co. (SUSS) from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating, upgraded shares of Systemax Inc. (SYX) from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating.

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