Alibaba to pay $266m for Hong Kong's SCMP newspaper

Chinese Internet giant Alibaba will pay $266 million for Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, the newspaper said Monday, far higher than analysts' estimates in a deal that has sparked fears the paper will lose its independent voice.

The business had been valued at half that amount, and some observers said the hefty price tag reflects Alibaba's desire to control media in the semi-autonomous territory.

The deal comes as concern over press freedom grows after attacks on journalists, reports of pressure on editorial staff from authorities and increasing self-censorship.

Alibaba "has agreed to purchase the media business of the (SCMP) Group for a cash consideration of HK$2,060,600,000", the newspaper said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The group also owns the Hong Kong editions of magazines Esquire, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar.

In a letter to the newspaper's readers following the announcement of the sale, Alibaba executive vice chairman Joe Tsai vowed the SCMP would be "objective, accurate and fair". However, in an interview published on the paper's website, Tsai accused Western media of bias against China, saying that Alibaba would "see things differently".