stake

China is making efforts to grab a $1.2 billion stake in Facebook which would give it a significant role in the largest social networking service in the world. And that may be concerning.

Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group is seeking funds to buyout 40% of the stake held by Yahoo as it looks for a chance to put an end to its relationship with the Carol Bartz led company because it is itself now a takeover target, according to a source familiar with the case.

Jack Ma, a founder of Alibaba, was talking with private equity companies in an effort to assemble a special-purpose acquisition fund for the express purpose of buying the Yahoo stake, said the source on condition of anonymity.

Elevation Partners, a private equity company, has acquired a $120 million stake in Facebook from private shareholders valuing the company at $23 billion, as reported by the sources with the knowledge of the matter.

It is the second round of Elevation’s investment in shares of the social networking company through the secondary markets which gives the equity firm a 1.5% stake in Facebook.

According to HSBC's CEO Michael Geoghegan, HSBC Holdings is happy with its 20% stake in Bank of Communications, its primary investment vehicle in China. 

Geoghegan decided to make comments after Britain's Sunday Telegraph reported that the HSBC was considering a bid for a major Chinese bank to reinforce its presence in the country as other foreign lenders retrenched.

EBay Inc's former chief executive, Meg Whitman, took the witness stand on Monday to make the case online classifieds site Craigslist unfairly cut eBay's stake in the company.

EBay sued Craigslist in 2008 for lowering its ownership stake to 24.85 percent from 28.4 percent, causing the e-commerce giant to lose its seat on Craigslist's board.