Alibaba.com Independent Board Committee and Independent Financial Advisor Recommend Approval of Privatization

An Independent Board Committee of Alibaba.com Limited and the independent financial advisor appointed by the Independent Board Committee to evaluate a privatization proposal have come to the view that the proposal is fair and reasonable as far as independent shareholders are concerned and suggested that they vote in favor of the proposal.

A major factor driving Alibaba Group's decision to privatize its openly traded subsidiary, which is engaged in the B2B marketplace business, is to provide minority shareholders with an possibility to realize their investment in Alibaba.com at a significant premium over the current market price, during Alibaba.com implements a shift in its business strategy. Alibaba.com and Alibaba Group stated in their joint announcement on February 21, 2012, that this shift may adversely affect the Company's revenue growth and limit revenues visibility for the foreseeable future. Alibaba.com shifted its focus in early 2011 from aggressive growth in paying members to increasing the number and activity of buyers, who are essential to the success of the e-commerce platforms nevertheless do not pay any fees for the use of the platforms. This contributed towards Alibaba.com experiencing negative growth in its paying members and a decrease in revenue growth in 2011.

Global e-commerce leader

Alibaba Group is a global e-commerce leader and the largest e-commerce company in China. Since it was founded in 1999, Alibaba Group has grown to include the following core businesses: Alibaba.com, Alibaba Group's flagship company and the world's leading B2B e-commerce company; Taobao Marketplace, China's primary C2C online shopping destination; Tmall.com, China's leading B2C online marketplace for quality, brand name goods; eTao, China's most comprehensive shopping search engine; Juhuasuan, China's most comprehensive group shopping platform; Alibaba Cloud Computing, a developer of advanced data-centric cloud computing services; and China Yahoo!, one of China's leading Internet portals. Alipay, China's largest third-party online payment service, is an affiliate of Alibaba Group.

Alibaba.com is the global leader in e-commerce for small businesses and the flagship company of Alibaba Group. Founded in 1999 in Hangzhou, China, Alibaba.com makes it easy for millions of buyers and suppliers around the world to do business online mainly through three marketplaces: a global trade platform for importers and exporters; a Chinese platform for domestic trade in China; and a transaction-based wholesale platform on the global site geared for smaller buyers seeking fast shipment of small quantities of goods. At the same time, these marketplaces form a community of more than 79.8 million registered users in more than 240 countries and regions. As part of its strategy to transition into a holistic platform where small companies can build and manage their online business more easily, Alibaba.com as well offers Chinese traders a wide array of business management software, Internet infrastructure services and export-related services directly or through companies it has acquired including HiChina and One-Touch, as so then as educational services to incubate enterprise management and e-commerce professionals. Alibaba.com as well owns Vendio and Auctiva, leading providers of third-party e-commerce solutions for online merchants. Alibaba.com has offices in more than 70 cities across Greater China, India, Japan, Korea, Europe and the United States.