Amid growing competition from rivals, Alibaba trims its portfolio, selling a significant stake in the Chinese streaming platform Bilibili.

Alibaba Group Holding has raised US$357.8 million by selling 30.85 million American depositary receipts (ADRs) in Chinese streaming platform Bilibili, sources familiar with the matter revealed. The ADRs were priced at US$11.60 each, which represents a 5.5% discount compared to the closing price of US$12.28 per ADR on March 20, 2024. Following the sale, Bilibili’s ADRs experienced a 9.6% drop on March 21 but later recovered slightly, trading at around US$11.40.

Alibaba’s decision to sell the Bilibili ADRs comes as part of its broader strategy to refocus its massive business empire on its core retail and cloud divisions. The e-commerce giant, facing increasing competition from rivals such as PDD Holdings, has been streamlining its investment portfolio. Recently, Alibaba’s subsidiary Taobao China Holding sold off shares in electric vehicle maker XPeng for US$317 million, and it has also reduced its stake in Hong Kong-listed ride-sharing firm GogoX Holdings.

Alibaba first became Bilibili’s principal shareholder in February 2019, purchasing 13.6 million ordinary shares and 10 million ADRs through its subsidiary Taobao China. The company increased its investment in Bilibili in 2021, making it a significant player on the video-streaming platform. Besides its financial stake, Alibaba has been an important advertiser on Bilibili, and the two companies began collaborating on content creation in 2018.

This move aligns with Alibaba’s new direction under CEO Eddie Wu, who has emphasized increasing investments in the company’s core business areas while reducing its focus on non-essential assets.