Alibaba seeks Temasek backing to buy stake from Yahoo: report

A security guard walks past a logo of Alibaba (China) Technology Co. Ltd at its headquarters on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province March 16, 2010.

(Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has talked with Temasek Holdings Pte about providing financing to buy the 40 percent stake in itself held by Yahoo Inc, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Singapore's Temasek, a state-owned investment company, may help fund an offer in return for a bigger share of privately-owned Alibaba Group, the agency said.

However, Temasek is not interested in owning Yahoo, one person told the agency.

Both Alibaba and Temasek declined comment to Reuters.

Temasek is a shareholder in Alibaba Group.

Jack Ma, the chief executive officer of Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba, said last month he would be "very interested" in buying Yahoo, a deal that could help the former English school teacher expand into the U.S. Alibaba is being advised by UBS.

Jerry Yang, co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo is interested in a deal with private equity firms that would take the $20 billion company, off public markets, people familiar with the situation told Reuters.

(Reporting by Divya Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Anshuman Daga)