China’s Alibaba to break up empire into six units as Jack Ma returns home

Alibaba Group has disclosed that the company will split into six units and explore fundraising or listings for most of them, in a major revamp as China vows to ease a sweeping regulatory crackdown and support its private enterprises.

The company’s chairman and CEO, Daniel Zhang, said the restructuring would enable each separate business to pursue its own fundraising and public listing plans.

Alibaba said the biggest restructuring in its 24-year history would see it split into six units – Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group.

The revamp comes a day after Alibaba founder Jack Ma returned home from a year-long stay abroad, a move that dovetailed with Beijing’s effort to spur growth in the private sector after two years of crackdown.

Recent years have seen the internet giant face unprecedented headwinds as Beijing has imposed tighter restrictions on the domestic tech industry.