Alibaba sells majority stake in Sun Art for $1.58b

The stake was intended to integrate Alibaba’s digital capabilities with Sun Art’s hypermarkets.

Alibaba Group has announced that it is selling its 78.7% stake in Chinese hypermarket chain Sun Art Retail Group to private equity firm DCP Capital for $1.58b (HK$12.298b), Reuters reported.

The stake, acquired in 2020 for $3.6b, was intended to integrate Alibaba’s digital capabilities with Sun Art’s hypermarkets. The sale follows an 85% surge in Sun Art’s share price over the past year, far outpacing the Hang Seng Index’s 20% rise, the report added.

Alibaba is also offloading its Chinese department store unit, Intime Retail, despite expected losses.