Yahoo changes mind on Alibaba stake

Yahoo! has revealed it is set to retain a larger stake in Alibaba than it originally claimed.

Although the company first announced that it aimed to sell 261.5 million shares, it now plans to sell up to 208 million of its 523 million shares in the firm.

Analysts said that the decision comes as Yahoo! is looking to cash in on the listing. Speaking to BBC News, Ben Schachter, an analyst with Macquarie Research, said: "The idea is you don't want to have to sell at the initial public offering (IPO) price, you want to sell later to potentially get the appreciation going up."

Yahoo! claims that the Chinese firm's sales grew 61 per cent in the April-to-June period to $1.74 billion (£1.08 billion) – making it the largest e-commerce group in the Asian nation – while net income jumped 160 per cent to $717 million.

When the Nasdaq opens later in the day, shares in online giant Yahoo! will open at 33.38, which is close to the company's 52-week high price of 35.06.

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