 During Alibaba's failed attempt at securing an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the "SCMP" published articles questioning the business practices of the platform, including incidents involving counterfeit goods.On 11 December 2015, Alibaba Group announced that it would acquire the media assets of SCMP Group, including "SCMP", for HK$2 billion (US$266 million).Alibaba's ownership of "SCMP" led to concerns that the newspaper would become a mouthpiece of the Central People's Government.