Yahoo has made a deal to keep a greater share of its stake in Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba when it goes public in what is expected to be the largest technology initial public offering this year.
The Silicon Valley-based internet company pledged to return half of the after-tax proceeds from the sale to shareholders in its clearest indication yet of its post-IPO plans, but it said it expected to pay full tax on this first tranche of shares.
The company reached its second agreement in a year with Alibaba to reduce the amount of the ecommerce group it will be forced to sell in the offering. It will now be required to sell just 27 per cent of its stake or 140m shares, rather than 208m.