Weibo, state firm plan to take China’s Twitter private: Report

Weibo has grown at a fast clip since its launch in 2009 in a market where Twitter is blocked by the government.

Nasdaq-listed Weibo Corp’s chairman and a Chinese state investor plan to take China’s answer to Twitter private, sources told Reuters news agency, sending Weibo’s shares as much as 50 percent higher on Tuesday. A deal could value Weibo at more than $20bn, facilitate shareholder Alibaba’s exit and see Weibo eventually relist in China to capitalise on higher valuations, the sources said. Chairman Charles Chao’s holding company New Wave, Weibo’s top stakeholder, is teaming up with a Shanghai-based state company to form a consortium for the deal, three sources said, without disclosing the state firm’s identity.