SHANGHAI: Alibaba said on Tuesday it would shelve plans to list its logistics unit. This is the latest development in Alibaba's restructuring efforts since the Chinese e-commerce giant embarked on its biggest-ever organizational shake-up a year ago.
Here's a timeline of what's happened since Alibaba announced it would split into six business groups.
March 28, 2023: Alibaba announces the biggest reorganization in its 24-year history, splitting into six divisions and saying it would consider raising capital or going public for most of them.
May 18, 2023: Alibaba announced that it will spin off its cloud division and take it public within the next 12 months. Alibaba is seeking external funding for its international digital commerce business group and plans to list its grocery division Freshippo.
Additionally, the company's logistics arm, Cainiao, plans to consider an IPO within the next 12 to 18 months.
June 20, 2023: Alibaba announced that then-CEO and Chairman Daniel Zhang will step down to focus on the company's cloud division.
Eddie Yongming Wu, chairman of Alibaba's Taobao/Tmall Group, has been appointed CEO, and executive vice chairman Joseph Tsai has been appointed chairman.
September 10, 2023: Mr. Zhang abruptly exits the cloud business and Mr. Wu takes over the division.
September 26, 2023: Alibaba filed an application to list Cainiao Smart Logistics Network on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
November 16, 2023: Alibaba withdraws plans to spin off its cloud business, citing uncertainty caused by U.S. export restrictions on chips used in artificial intelligence applications.
December 20, 2023: CEO Wu directly targets domestic e-commerce sector as the core of attention and investment to fend off competition from lower-end rivals such as PDD Holdings and Pinduoduo. Move towards supervision.
February 8: President Tsai tells analysts that exiting some of the traditional brick-and-mortar retail businesses on the balance sheet “makes sense,” but that “due to the difficult market environment, it will take time.” I guess so,” he said.
March 26: Alibaba plans to list Cainiao and announces that it will buy the remaining shares it does not own in the logistics division for up to $3.75 billion.
