Yahoo and Japanese operator Softbank are close to an agreement with Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba over the transfer of online payment unit Alipay, the companies said in a statement. Last month Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma transferred the group's payment arm Alipay to a new entity under his control. Softbank and Yahoo!, Alibaba's shareholders, demanded reasonable compensation for the loss of Alipay. The dispute is rooted in the central bank's licensing system for non-financial third-party payment service providers. Alipay reportedly needed to show it had no foreign investors in order to secure a licence. Yahoo and Softbank said they were holding "constructive negotiations", which have seen "substantive and encouraging progress toward an agreement regarding Alipay". Further details on the shape of an eventual agreement were not disclosed.
