This week, Xi Jinping’s regulators signaled that the Jack Ma debacle of the last 28-plus months is finally over. And that China Inc is back in business. Beijing announced Tuesday (March 28) that Alibaba Group will divide its US$220 billion empire into six distinct business units, a move that will generate several initial public offerings (IPOs). More importantly, the overhaul presents a roadmap of sorts to placate regulators’ concerns over the abuse of monopolistic power among China’s technology behemoths. “The split-up could also serve as a template for Alibaba’s peers, but we don’t expect any imminent similar move,” says Evercore ISI analyst Neo Wang.
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