Yahoo confirms Alibaba stake spinoff

Yahoo Inc said it is on track to spin off its nearly 15 percent stake worth about $22 billion in China-based Alibaba Group Holding Ltd this year into a separate corporate entity called Aabaco Holdings Inc.

The move is aimed at assuaging investor concern about a multi-billion-dollar tax hit from the transaction. Yahoo's board authorized the spinoff, even though the United States Internal Revenue Service declined to grant the company an advance ruling blessing the deal, it said in a filing on Monday.

While the agency is stepping up scrutiny of such transactions, Yahoo is going forward with the plan, which was announced in January, after the IRS indicated a decision is not likely to be retroactive.