Yahoo not interested in Alibaba stake sale: CEO

NEW YORK, USA: Yahoo Inc chief executive Carol Bartz does not want to sell the Internet search company's stake in Alibaba Group, despite persistent overtures from the Chinese Internet firm.

Alibaba "constantly" approaches Yahoo about repurchasing its stake, Bartz told Reuters in a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday, but Yahoo has no plans to sell it.

"It's very strategic," Bartz said, adding that it also is a great investment.

Bartz's comments come after a report that a deal is pending for Yahoo to sell its roughly 39 per cent stake in Alibaba for between $8 billion and $11 billion.

In a note to investors on Wednesday, Susquehanna Financial analyst Marianne Wolk referred to a report on a Chinese Web site about such a deal.

Bartz told Reuters that Alibaba was a smart way to invest in China, a region that has challenged other Internet companies such as Yahoo's rival Google Inc.

She played down recent reports suggesting tension between Yahoo and Alibaba, noting that she recently sat next to Alibaba CEO Jack Ma all day during a Microsoft summit.

"I'm betting Jack Ma will do a great job in the company," Bartz said.

The Yahoo CEO also said that the transition of the company's Internet search advertising system to Microsoft Corp's technology would occur by the end of October, and that Yahoo was no longer considering delaying the transition until after the holiday season.

Bartz said that search advertising rates would pick up in mid-2011, following the transition to Microsoft's technology.

"After the transition, I think we'll see a dip for a while just because it will be inefficient for a while, but by mid-next year I think we'll see the RPS (revenue per search) come up on the site," Bartz said.

Meanwhile, Alibaba Group said on Thursday it had made an offer to partially buy back Yahoo's stake in the company, but the offer was rejected.

"We made an offer that included a partial sale and a specific plan to maximise the value of their remaining stake," said Alibaba Group spokesman John Spelich.

"That offer was rejected, and they countered with a very different proposal, which we found unjustifiable, and we terminated the discussions," he said.

Yahoo owns about 40 per cent of Alibaba Group. Yahoo shares rose 4.2 per cent to $14.20 on the Nasdaq stock market.