Recently, Alibaba has been repeatedly rumored to sell its business.
On the evening of February 2nd, according to media reports, Alibaba is considering selling several consumer industry assets, including its grocery business Hema and retailer RT Mart. It is reported that Alibaba has been in negotiations with strategic and financial investors regarding these assets.
Just a few days ago, there was also market news that Alibaba Group was considering selling its department store and shopping center operator, Intime Commercial, in the near future.
As of the time of publication, Alibaba and related businesses have not responded yet.
In March 2014, Alibaba and Intime Commercial jointly announced that Alibaba would make a strategic investment of HKD 5.37 billion in Intime; In 2015, Alibaba increased its holdings in Intime through convertible bonds and other means, becoming the largest shareholder of Intime.
On June 29, 2016, Yintai Commercial Group announced that it had accepted Alibaba's stock exchange notice. Alibaba, through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary TheLibraCapitalGreaterChinaFundLimited, holds shares in Intime Commercial, along with the then Vice Chairman of Alibaba, Tsai Chongxin, and Alibaba Group's holdings, resulting in a total shareholding ratio of 27.90%, making it the largest shareholder of Intime Commercial. The shareholding ratio of the Shen Guojun family, the founder and former chairman of Intime, decreased from 21.87% to 17.56%.
The former RT Mart has created a retail legend. In the midst of rapid growth, RT Mart once developed into a super classic retailer. In 2017, Alibaba announced that it would invest approximately HKD 22.4 billion to directly and indirectly hold a 36.16% stake in Gaoxin Retail. In 2020, Alibaba once again increased its holdings to 72%.
In fact, this is not the first time that Alibaba has been rumored to be interested in selling some of its business recently. Previously, both Hema and Ele.me were rumored to be considering sale, but the related rumors were quickly denied.