HANGZHOU: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group announced that it will invest approximately $3.6 billion to acquire control of Sun Art Retail Group Ltd., a leading hypermarket and supermarket operator in China. Alibaba will seal the transaction by acquiring 70.94 percent equity in A-RT Retail Holdings Ltd., which owns 51 percent of Sun Art, from French multinational Auchan Retail International S.A. and its subsidiaries. In November 2017, Alibaba, Auchan Retail International S.A. and Taiwanese conglomerate Ruentex Group announced a strategic alliance that brought together online and offline expertise to explore new retail opportunities in China’s food sector. As part of the strategic alliance, Alibaba obtained an aggregate direct and indirect stake of approximately 36.17 percent in Sun Art. “Alibaba’s strategic investment in Sun Art in 2017 was an important step in our New Retail strategy,” said Daniel Zhang, chairman and chief executive officer of Alibaba Group, adding that Sun Art has achieved impressive results in its digitalization, and pursued promising synergies with businesses across the Alibaba digital economy.

Source: Manila Times October 19, 2020 17:15 UTC