Alibaba to take US$486 million stake in China retail data firm
The e-commerce giant will take 38 per cent of Shiji Retail Information Technology in further push towards ‘new retail’
China’s biggest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group Holding, will invest US$486 million for a stake in a domestic big-data firm focused on hotels and retail, as part of a push to deepen its offline presence.
The firm will buy a 38 per cent stake in Shiji Retail Information Technology Co via its subsidiary Alibaba Investment Ltd, Shiji’s listed parent said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The deal is part of a “new retail” strategic cooperation, the parent company, Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co, said, referring to a shift by Alibaba and rivals to leverage big data to shake up China’s huge but stalling retail market.
Alibaba has been strengthening its retail presence with more than US$10 billion of investments into bricks-and-mortar outlets amid rising competition in the space from rival Tencent Holdings.
Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the announcement by Beijing Shiji Information.
The latest deal comes after another Alibaba subsidiary, Taobao (China) Software Co, agreed to take a roughly 15 per cent stake in Beijing Shiji Information in 2014 for 2.81 billion yuan (US$446.3 million) to help bolster its online travel business.