"If they subscribe to Yahoo! and [they know] Yahoo! is owned by a Chinese company, they are going to have to make the decision themselves," Natkin added.
Alibaba, Softbank and Yahoo! have been looking to unwind their complex web of relationships. Alibaba retained Duberstein in the fall when it was discussing a proposal with private equity firms to carve up Yahoo!, a source familiar with the situation said.
While they would jointly make a bid for the whole company, the idea was for the buyout firms to take over Yahoo!'s US operations and for Alibaba and Softbank to get the Asian assets.
But a buyout of Yahoo! has now been put on the backburner as the US internet company is considering a proposal to address just the Asian assets that Alibaba and Softbank want. That plan, valued at roughly $17bn (?11bn), would reduce Yahoo!'s 40pc stake in Alibaba and get Yahoo! out of Yahoo! Japan, sources told Reuters last week.
Yahoo! is exploring proposals to revamp its business in the face of competition from internet heavyweights such as Google and Facebook.
Investors have long said Yahoo!'s investment in Alibaba, along with its 35pc slice of Yahoo! Japan, are far and away the US company's most prized assets. Yahoo! has a market value of around $20bn.
Earlier in December, Thomson Reuters publication Basis Point reported that a handful of lenders are considering committing to a $4bn loan for Alibaba that will help it buy back part of the 40pc stake that Yahoo! owns in the company.
The filing marks the first time Alibaba has registered to lobby the US government, according to a search of congressional records.
The Duberstein Group is headed by Kenneth Duberstein, a former White House chief of staff under US President Ronald Reagan. Its other clients include BP America, Goldman Sachs and Pfizer.
The lobbying registration lists the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which specializes in mergers and acquisitions, as an intermediary between Alibaba and the company's lobbying team.
The registration was received by a US Senate office on December 23 and then posted online, but the lobbying work likely began earlier.
Under US law, a lobbying firm is required to file a public disclosure within 45 days of crossing certain thresholds such as making contact with a public official. The filing for Alibaba says it is effective as of December 1.
Messages left with the Duberstein Group and Wachtell were not immediately returned on Wednesday.
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