Alibaba.com, which operates an e-commerce website linking Chinese businesses to overseas buyers, posted a 6 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, the first fall in more than two years, as a weak global economy slowed exports.

Alibaba Group has signed a USD3 billion loan, giving it the committed funding required for taking Alibaba.com private, sources told Basis Point, a Thomson Reuters publication, on Monday.

Alibaba.com is 73 percent-owned by Alibaba Group, which in turn is 40 percent-owned by Yahoo Inc. The remaining 27 percent of Alibaba.com is held by investors including Morgan Stanley, Vanguard Group and Capital International, according to Thomson Reuters data. Yahoo bought its stake in Alibaba for about USD1 billion in 2005.