Shares of Alibaba Pictures Group surged 36.7 percent yesterday in Hong Kong trading after it received a proposal from the parent company to merge its online film ticket selling business and a film production financing platform with the listed unit.
Alibaba Pictures resumed trading yesterday morning after its shares were suspended two weeks ago pending the announcement.
The parent Alibaba Group is in initial discussions with the board of directors of Alibaba Pictures to merge the entities, according to a statement submitted to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.
Shares of Alibaba Pictures closed at HK$3.90 (50 US cents) yesterday.
A non-binding proposal has been made to the listed company on March 25 and updated on Tuesday, the filing noted, adding that there was no timetable for a potential transaction.
Taobao's online film ticket sales business was originally under the control of Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group.
Yulebao, an online financing platform that allows users to invest money from as low as 100 yuan (US$16.13) in development-phase games, movies, and TV shows, was operated by the digital entertainment division of Alibaba.