Alibaba Group Set to Pay $433.5 Million in Shareholder Lawsuit Settlement

China’s e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group, has agreed to pay $433.5 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders who claimed the business harmed investors by making false statements about its exclusivity policies.

According to Reuters, investors filed the case in 2020, claiming that the business had engaged in monopolistic activities.

It claimed that Alibaba violated anti-monopoly and unfair competition laws by limiting businesses to a single distribution platform.

The corporation stated that it negotiated the settlement to avoid the cost and disruption of extended litigation

The e-commerce behemoth stated that the settlement proposal has been lodged in Manhattan federal court.

It is awaiting permission from US District Judge George Daniels.

According to the newspaper, the settlement will cover holders in Alibaba’s American depositary shares from November 13, 2019, until December 23, 2020.

The settlement resolves charges that investors suffered losses when the market recognised Alibaba’s alleged deceptive statements, causing a drop in its stock price.

The lawyers argued that if the Alibaba investors had continued to litigate, they might have sought a maximum damages amount of $11.63 billion.

The case is In Re: Alibaba Group Holding Limited Securities Litigation, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-09568.

We earlier reported that English football player David Beckham has been announced as Alibaba Group Holding’s global e-commerce platform, AliExpress, as a global brand ambassador.