BEIJING (Reuters) – China Alibaba (NYSE:) Group Holding Ltd said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell its majority stake in department store chain Sun Art Retail Group (OTC:) to Chinese private equity firm DCP Capital for HK$12.298 billion ($1.58 billion).
The 78.7% stake represents holdings held by Alibaba's subsidiaries, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Alibaba paid $3.6 billion for a controlling stake in Sun Art in 2020 in hopes of further leveraging its digital presence to support Sun Art's hundreds of supermarkets in China.
The disposal of the stake follows an 85% jump in Hong Kong's Sun Art shares last year, which easily beat a nearly 20% rise in key shares.
The e-commerce giant is also selling its Chinese department store unit Intime even if it makes a loss from the deal.
The quota sales are part of Alibaba Group's reshaping of its business portfolio to focus on core e-commerce operations.
($1 = 7.7677 Hong Kong dollars)
