Alibaba Group may inject entertainment assets into pictures unit

[MELBOURNE] Alibaba Group Holding Ltd may inject some entertainment assets into its Hong Kong-listed movies unit, which said last year its accounting may have been flawed.

The assets include an online movie ticketing business and a financing platform used to help produce content, Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd said in a filing on Wednesday. The proposal is non-binding and there is no certainty a deal will go ahead, it said.

Alibaba Group bought an US$800 million stake in the Chinese film company last year before the e-commerce company's record initial public offering as part of Chairman Jack Ma's quest to build a portfolio of movies and TV programming.

After the deal, Alibaba Pictures said management uncovered possible accounting flaws and delayed the release of earnings. That triggered a slump in its shares. Alibaba Pictures has blamed misstated tax payments and other accounting on lax internal controls by the company's previous management team.

BLOOMBERG