BlackRock cashes out $117b Alibaba stake

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has slashed its 88.3 percent stake in Alibaba (9999) in the second quarter, involving 74.03 million shares and cashing out around HK$117 billion.

Its shareholding value has been reduced by nearly US$17 billion (HK$132 billion) - from US$19.01 billion to US$2.23 billion - from a quarter ago.

The number of shares fell from 83.86 million to 9.83 million, as of June 30 and Alibaba now accounts for only 0.06 percent of BlackRock's portfolio from 0.56 percent.

Even excluding the fluctuations in Alibaba during the period, BlackRock's cash from the Alibaba sale is estimated at US$15 billion, or HK$117 billion. The reduction in the second quarter is the largest change in BlackRock's 30 largest positions.

Alibaba fell 1.31 percent to HK$188.7 yesterday in Hong Kong trading.