Temat: Alibaba.com EGM Approves a New Pool of Shares

Alibaba.com EGM Approves a New Pool of Shares
for Share Option Scheme and Restricted Share Unit Scheme

Enhanced limit of the schemes to align long-term interests and drive success


HONG KONG, December 10, 2010 – Shareholders of Alibaba.com Limited (HKSE: 1688) (1688.HK), the world’s leading small business e-commerce company, today approved overwhelmingly the amendments to the share option scheme and restricted share unit scheme and the refreshment of the limit of these schemes to 156 million shares at the company’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM).



“The fast-growing development of our company in the past 10 years is attributable to the dedication and hard work of the entire staff of Alibaba.com, and we will continue to value our human assets, which bring value to our customers, thus contributing returns to our shareholders,” said David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.com. “We are grateful that our shareholders agreed, and we are confident that the schemes will streamline and align the long-term interests of our shareholders as well as our management and staff, driving mutual success of our customers and our business.”



The original limit of both schemes was 135.1 million shares, which represented approximately 2.67 percent of the issued share capital of Alibaba.com when it was listed in 2007. The refreshed limit of 156 million shares that shareholders have approved today represents approximately 3.1 percent of Alibaba.com’s current issued share capital. This is significantly lower than the limit of 10 percent permitted under the Listing Rules.



The purposes of the share option scheme are to attract skilled and experienced personnel, to incentivize them to remain with Alibaba.com and give effect to the company’s customer-focused corporate culture and to motivate them to strive for the future development and expansion of Alibaba.com by providing them with the opportunity to acquire equity interests in the company. The purposes of the restricted share unit scheme are to attract and retain the best available personnel by providing incentives to employees and consultants who contribute to the business growth and success of the company. The directors of Alibaba.com consider that a refreshment of the limit of both schemes will allow the company to continue utilizing the schemes to pursue these purposes, hence aligning the long-term interests of all of its stakeholders.



At the same time, the HK$1.1 billion special cash dividend that Alibaba.com announced earlier today was also approved by its board of directors. All shareholders registered as of December 31, 2010 will receive a cash dividend of 22 Hong Kong cents per share, which will be paid on or around January 31, 2011.

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