Alibaba buys $192m stake in premier China football club

Alibaba Group Holding has bought a 50% stake in Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club for US$192 million (RMB1.2 billion), The Wall Street Journal reported. The transaction is the latest in a string of purchases by Alibaba and takes the them into the new terrain of sports where many high-profile companies have stumbled. Pairing China’s best soccer team with one of its most successful entrepreneurs should prove popular with fans, and could help ensure a steady flow of traffic to Alibaba’s mobile e-commerce sites. Alibaba plans to list shares in the US later this year in perhaps the largest IPO ever.