Alibaba to buy all of Youku Tudou in cash

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is taking full control of Youku Tudou Inc, a leading Internet video company in China, in a move to further push into the digital entertainment industry.

Alibaba, which already owns 18.3 percent of Youku Tudou through a strategic investment made in May 2014, said on Friday it has made a non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of the Beijing-based media company that it does not already own for $26.60 per American depositary share in an all-cash transaction valuing at $4.5 billion.

"Digital products, such as videos, are important products for e-commerce. Youku's high-quality video content will be a core component of Alibaba's digital product offering in the future," said Daniel Zhang, chief executive officer of Alibaba in a statement.