S.Korea's S.M. Entertainment denies report of Alibaba stake buy

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's S.M. Entertainment Co on Tuesday denied a media report saying Alibaba Group Holding is considering an investment in the leading K-Pop agency through a stake buy.

Korea Economic Daily reported earlier on Tuesday that Alibaba was conducting due diligence on S.M., and the two parties were discussing an investment by Alibaba that would make it S.M. Entertainment's second-largest shareholder. The daily did not cite a source.

S.M. Entertainment said in a statement that the report was "not true" and that it was in discussions with many parties about possible partnerships or other methods of cooperation related to its China business.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)