Chinese tech giant Alibaba announced that it will take control of leading hypermarket chain Sun Art Retail while its spin-off Ant Group has actually gotten the thumbs-up for its Hong Kong listing.
Asia’s largest corporation will pay HK$28 billion ($ 3.6 billion) to double its stake in bricks-and-mortar merchant Sun Art from 36.16 percent to 72 percent by getting equity from Auchan Retail International.
Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, has warded off competition from competitors such as JD.com as it seeks to boost its offline shopping services and get more ground in China’s retail market.
The business currently owns Taobao, the world’s biggest online marketplace.
Alibaba initially formed an alliance with Hong Kong-listed Sun Art in 2017, investing HK$224 billion in the grocery store chain to incorporate its online grocery ordering platform and offer home-delivery services.
Sun Art, which has 481 hypermarkets and three mid-size grocery stores in China, is presently controlled by an unit of Mulliez household financial investments– among the richest families in France.
Daniel Zhang, chairman and CEO of Alibaba, said in a statement: “As the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the digitization of consumer way of lives and business operations, this dedication to Sun Art serves to strengthen our ‘brand-new retail’ vision and serve more consumers with a totally incorporated experience.”
Alibaba included that Peter Huang would be selected chairman of Sun Art on top of his current function as ceo.
Shares in Sun Art soared 19 percent on Monday o
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