Chinese Internet firm Alibaba is set to speed up plans to buy back a near 40 per cent stake owned by Yahoo Inc, as Microsoft threatens to go hostile with a lower bid for Yahoo. Alibaba — keen to calm Beijing’s fears that Microsoft’s planned takeover of Yahoo would increase foreign influence over China’s leading Internet firms — wants to fund a buyback of all or part of the 39 per cent stake Yahoo owns. Analysts said this could come from a mix of foreign and local financial investors, including Chinese pension funds or state-backed firms looking to enter the Internet sector. Alibaba plans to exercise its ‘right of first offer’ on the stake, which is stated in a 2005 agreement with Yahoo, should the two US firms reach a deal. The ‘right of first offer’ states that Yahoo cannot transfer its Alibaba stake without first offering it to other shareholders. Alibaba believes any change of control at Yahoo, including a deal with Microsoft, would amount to such a transfer.