Employees hold a meeting inside the headquarters office of Alibaba (China) Technology Co. Ltd on the outskirts of Hangzhou.
Employees hold a meeting inside the headquarters office of Alibaba (China) Technology Co. Ltd on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Aug. 11, 2011. REUTERS

Shares of Alibaba.com, an e-commerce company rose 43 percent early Wednesday after resuming trade encouraged by the news that it would take the company private.

Alibaba Group, which owns 73 percent of Alibaba.com, said late Tuesday it plans to privatize its Hong Kong-listed online trade unit Alibaba.com, as it will free it from the pressures of having a listed company.

Taking Alibaba.com private will allow our company to make long-term decisions that are in the best interest of our customers and that are also free from the pressures that come from having a publicly listed company, said Alibaba group chairman Jack Ma.

The Group said that it has offered HK$13.50 a share for the 27 percent stake it doesn't already own in Alibaba.com, a 46 percent premium to their last traded price, and a 60 percent premium over the stock's 60-day average closing price.

Alibaba.com posted a net profit of 1.71 billion yuan ($271.5 million) in 2011, up 16.6 percent over the previous year. The firm said its fourth-quarter net profit fell 6.0 percent from a year earlier. “The global economy was sluggish in 2011 due to lackluster economic conditions in the major developed markets, it said in a statement.

Cautious sentiment is restraining consumption in developed economies, which is negatively impacting emerging economies and developing nations. China is unlikely to prove immune to the global slowdown, the statement added.

Alibaba is reportedly planning to borrow $3 billion to buy back the stake Yahoo! owns in the company.

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