Alibaba Group and SoftBank Form Joint Venture to Launch Cloud Computing Services in Japan

Tokyo, May 13, 2016 – Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) ("Alibaba Group"), one of the largest online and mobile commerce companies in the world, and SoftBank Corp. ("SoftBank"), the Japan-based telecom subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO:9984), today jointly announced the establishment of SB Cloud Corporation ("SB Cloud") to launch cloud computing services in Japan that utilize technologies and solutions from Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group.

SB Cloud will open a new data center in Japan and provide competitive and enhanced public cloud computing services from Alibaba Cloud to meet the various needs of Japanese customers, ranging from startups to multinational companies. The joint venture will enable Alibaba Cloud to further expand its cloud computing service platform with SoftBank's extensive business customer base in Japan, which comprises numerous global organizations.

SB Cloud will play a key role in supporting Alibaba Cloud's business presence in the Japan market where the demand for public cloud computing services is growing rapidly. It will provide Japanese enterprises with Alibaba Cloud's diverse offerings, including data storage and processing services, enterprise-level middleware as well as cloud security services.

Sicheng Yu, Vice President of Alibaba Cloud, says: "We are proud that Alibaba Cloud can leverage its cloud computing expertise in the joint venture with SoftBank. We look forward to helping more Japanese companies grow their business with our secure, scalable and innovative cloud computing services."

Eric Gan, Representative Director, CEO of SB Cloud and Executive Vice President of SoftBank, says: "I've really enjoyed working with the Alibaba Cloud team on the joint venture over the past few months. During the business planning discussions, I quickly felt that we were all working very much as one team with one goal. I believe the JV team can develop the most advanced cloud platform for Japanese customers, as well as for multinational customers who want to use the resources we have available in Japan."

SoftBank Group Corp., SoftBank's parent company, is a major shareholder of Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

About SB Cloud

Corporate name	SB Cloud Corporation
Established	Jan 26, 2016*
Corporate headquarters	Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representatives	Eric Gan, Representative Director, CEO Ken Miyauchi, Director Jun Shimba, Director Xiaoming Hu (Simon), Director Jingren Zhou, Director
Capital structure	SoftBank Corp.: 60% Alibaba Group Holding Limited: 40%
Business description	Planning, development, import and export, and sales of public cloud services

* Following the acceptance of additional capital on May 10th, 2016, the corporate name was changed to SB Cloud Corporation.

About Alibaba Cloud

Alibaba Cloud , Alibaba Group's international cloud computing arm, develops highly scalable platforms for cloud computing and data management. It provides a comprehensive suite of global cloud computing services to support businesses and customers, as well as participants of Alibaba Group's online and mobile commerce ecosystem. Alibaba Cloud is a business of Alibaba Group.

About SoftBank Corp.

SoftBank Corp., a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984), provides mobile communication, fixed-line communication and Internet connection services to customers in Japan. Leveraging synergies with other companies in the SoftBank Group, SoftBank Corp. aims to transform lifestyles through ICT and is expanding into other business areas including IoT, robotics and energy.