Yahoo has abandoned plans to spin-off its $32bn stake in Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba under pressure from investors worried about a potentially huge tax bill and is looking at selling or spinning off its core business instead.

迫于投资者压力，雅虎(Yahoo!)放弃了剥离其在中国电商集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)所持的320亿美元股份的计划，转而考虑出售或剥离其核心业务。投资者们担心，雅虎剥离所持阿里巴巴股份可能要缴一大笔税。

Shares in Yahoo rose more than 2 per cent in after-hours trading in New York after people familiar with the matter said the board had walked away from the spin-off which had been announced in February and was due to take place at the end of this year.

雅虎股价在纽约股市盘后交易时段上涨逾2%。此前有知情人士称，雅虎董事会放弃了今年2月宣布的剥离计划，该计划原本定于今年底实施。

The Silicon Valley company will now consider spinning off its core business together with its stake in Yahoo Japan, a move that poses a much lower tax risk, those briefed on the situation said. Yahoo did not respond to requests for comment. CNBC first reported the news.

了解情况的人士表示，雅虎现在将考虑剥离其核心业务以及其在雅虎日本(Yahoo! Japan)所持的股份，这么做的税务风险要低得多。雅虎未对记者的置评请求作出回应。上述消息最初是由CNBC报道的。

The stunning reversal by chief executive Marissa Mayer comes months after US authorities refused to give any guidance or reassurance that the spin-off of Yahoo’s 15 per cent stake in Alibaba would be tax-free, as the internet company had originally said in February.

雅虎一开始曾在今年2月表示，美国当局会给予雅虎剥离所持阿里巴巴15%股份的交易免税待遇。但数月前，美国当局拒绝就此提供任何指引或保证。雅虎首席执行官玛丽莎蔠耶尔(Marissa Mayer)因此上演了这一惊人的改弦易辙。

Several legal experts told the Financial Times in February that Yahoo’s spin-off risked incurring a punitive tax bill. At the time Yahoo advisers were adamant that no such risk existed under existing US tax laws.

今年2月，几名法律专家曾告诉英国《金融时报》，雅虎剥离阿里巴巴股份的交易可能会招致重税。当时，雅虎的顾问们曾坚定地表示，依照美国现有的税法，不存在这种风险。