阿里巴巴影業或存財務違規行爲

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group asked for trading in its 60%-owned film-production subsidiary, Alibaba Pictures, to be suspended, and delayed the publication of its half-year results after discovering what it called “possible accounting irregularities” at the unit.

由於發現公司 “可能存在會計違規行爲”，阿里巴巴影業集團（Alibaba Pictures）已申請暫停股票交易，並推遲公佈其上半年業績。阿里巴巴集團（Alibaba Group）擁有阿里巴巴影業60%的股份。

The announcement is an embarrassment for the group as it prepares for its multi-billion initial public offering in New York, tentatively scheduled for September, casting doubt over the quality of its rapid-fire acquisitions over the last year.

阿里巴巴正在籌備在紐約上市，時間暫定爲九月份，IPO規模預計將達到上百億美元，而此次聲明令其陷於尷尬境地，也讓外界對阿里巴巴去年大舉收購的質量產生了質疑。

Alibaba had paid $800 million for a controlling stake in what was then called ChinaVision Media Group less than six months ago, as part of a strategy to develop its own media content business. In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Friday, it said the possible irregularities had been discovered by the new management team that it had installed since taking control.

六個月前，阿里巴巴斥資8億美元獲得原文化中國傳播集團（ChinaVision Media Group）的控股權，這是其發展媒體內容業務戰略的一部分。在上週五提交給香港股票交易所（Hong Kong Stock Exchange）的文件中，阿里巴巴影業表示，收購文化中國之後，阿里巴巴任命的一支新管理團隊發現公司可能存在違規行爲。

It suggested that the company’s old management had hidden problems at the business, saying that the new team “is of the preliminary view that insufficient provision for impairments of certain assets for the six months ended 30 June 2014 is likely to have been made.”

文件稱，文化中國原管理團隊一直在隱瞞問題，並表示新管理團隊“初步認爲，截止2014年6月30日的六個月期間，可能並未對若干資產計提充分的減值準備。”

That admission may raise questions about how thorough it was in a flurry of deal-making this year. The company has made eight other acquisitions since it bought ChinaVision in March, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from Dealogic.

這引發外界質疑，在今年匆忙進行交易時，阿里巴巴是否實施了全面審查？《華爾街日報》（Wall Street Journal）引用數據提供商Dealogic的數據稱，自3月份收購文化中國以來，阿里巴巴還進行了另外八筆收購。

“The new Board and management team are instituting changes to the Company’s policies and procedures that reflect a strong commitment to transparency, good corporate governance and investor protection,” the company said.

阿里巴巴影業公司表示：“新的董事會及管理層正落實改變本公司的政策及程序，此舉反映了董事會及管理層對推動透明度、良好的企業管治及投資者保護方面的堅決承諾。”

Alibaba said it had launched an inquiry into the issue, but would probably not be able to publish its half-year results for Alibaba Pictures until after the end of August, the deadline for pubslhing half-year accounts at the HKSE, meaning that the final results of the probe at the film unit may overlap with the marketing of the group’s IPO.

另外，阿里巴巴影業稱公司已啓動對該問題的調查，但在香港股票交易所規定的半年賬目公佈的最終期限，即八月底之前，公司無法公佈半年業績。這意味着，對影業集團的最終調查結果可能會在阿里巴巴集團爲IPO進行造勢那段時間公佈出來。