Alibaba’s Youku Tudou deal approved

Youku Tudou shareholders have approved a deal that will see it acquired by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

China-based streaming service Youku Tudou said yesterday that 99.8% of it shareholders had voted in favour of the Alibaba deal, which was first mooted last November.

Alibaba already owned 18% of Youku Tudou after a US$1.2 billion deal in 2014.

The deal is now expected to close in April and Youku Tudou will no longer be listed in the US upon its completion. The agreement is thought to be worth about US$3.7 billion.

Youku Tudou was created in 2012 upon the merger of on-demand and video streaming rivals Youku and Tudou.

When the deal was first announced last year, Youku Tudou chairman and CEO, Victor Koo said: “We believe this combination with Alibaba maximises value for Youku Tudou shareholders and significantly benefits our customers, users and team.”

“We are eager to work with Alibaba to grow our multi-screen entertainment and media ecosystem.”