Alibaba Acquires Controlling Stake in Sun Art
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA and HKEX: 9988, “Alibaba” or “Alibaba Group”) today announced it will invest approximately USD3.6 billion in respect of Sun Art Retail Group Limited (HKEX: 6808, “Sun Art”), a leading hypermarket and supermarket operator in China, that will raise its aggregate direct and indirect stake to approximately 72%1. This transaction demonstrates Alibaba’s continued commitment to Sun Art, and its New Retail strategy by further integrating online and offline resources in China’s retail sector.
As part of the transaction, Alibaba will acquire 70.94% of equity interest in A-RT Retail Holdings Limited (“A-RT”) from Auchan Retail International S.A. and its subsidiary (“Auchan Retail”) valued at approximately HKD28.0 billion (USD3.6 billion). A-RT holds approximately 51% of the equity interest in Sun Art. Following the transaction, Alibaba will consolidate Sun Art in its financial statements. Additionally, Peter Huang has been appointed Chairman of Sun Art in addition to his current role as Chief Executive Officer.
Daniel Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group, said: “Alibaba’s strategic investment in Sun Art in 2017 was an important step in our New Retail strategy. The alliance we formed with Auchan Retail and Ruentex was instrumental in building a robust infrastructure to create opportunities and value in China’s retail sector. Led by Chief Executive Officer Peter Huang, Sun Art has achieved impressive results in its digitalization, and pursued promising synergies with businesses across the Alibaba digital economy. As the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the digitalization of consumer lifestyles and enterprise operations, this commitment to Sun Art serves to strengthen our New Retail vision and serve more consumers with a fully integrated experience.”
In November 2017, Alibaba Group, Auchan Retail and Ruentex Group announced a strategic alliance to digitalize and introduce New Retail solutions at Sun Art stores, including omnichannel integration and a more personalized customer experience. Over the past three years, Sun Art has made significant progress in the digital transformation under a fast-changing market environment by leveraging resources and technology from the Alibaba ecosystem, to capitalize on the growth opportunities in China’s hypermarket and supermarket space.
Today, all Sun Art physical stores in China have been integrated into Alibaba’s Taoxianda and Tmall Supermarket platforms, providing one-hour and half-day on-demand delivery through deep collaboration with other key businesses across the Alibaba ecosystem, including Ele.me and Cainiao, offering consumers greater product selection and access. As of June 30, 2020, Sun Art operates 481 hypermarkets and 3 mid-size supermarkets in China, with a focus on strengthening its position through small and offline community stores.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company aims to build the future infrastructure of commerce. It envisions that its customers will meet, work and live at Alibaba and that it will be a good company that lasts for 102 years.
1Including the stake held by Alibaba Group and its related party.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201018005074/en/
Contact information
Ivy Ke
Alibaba Group
+852 5590 9949
Ivy.ke@alibaba-inc.com
Cathy Yan
Alibaba Group
+852 9012 5806
cathy.yan@alibaba-inc.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Vonage Network APIs Pave the Way for Freenow by Lyft to Advance Urban Mobility Innovation22.1.2026 09:00:00 EET | Press release
Vonage, a part of Ericsson, and Freenow by Lyft, a leading taxi and multi-mobility app in Europe, have expanded their partnership with the launch of Vonage Silent Authentication API for customers based in the U.S. Vonage Network APIs enable Freenow by Lyft to tap into real-time network data and insights, helping prevent fraud through seamless user verification, ensuring reliable, efficient, and secure interactions for its customers and drivers. Network intelligence is becoming a critical layer of defense in the transportation space as fraud threats become more sophisticated and targeted. Enterprises worldwide lost 7.7% of their annual revenue on average due to fraud over the past year, representing an estimated $534 billion in losses.¹ With scam/authorization fraud, synthetic identity fraud, and account takeover as the leading cause of business loss, the need for advanced security measures continues to grow. “Launching Vonage Silent Authentication API for the U.S. customers marks a tra
Daiichi Sankyo Appoints New Leadership at the Daiichi Sankyo Translational Research Center Europe22.1.2026 08:30:00 EET | Press release
Daiichi Sankyo (TSE:4568) has appointed Veronika Rozehnal, Ph.D., to succeed Jürgen Müller, Ph.D., as the Head of the Translational Research Center Europe. Dr. Jürgen Müller will retire after nearly 30 years of research work at Daiichi Sankyo. Under his leadership, the Translational Research Center Europe, previously called the Tissue and Cell Research Center Munich, has grown from three to 40 researchers since it was founded in 1997 and has become an internationally recognized institution that plays a strategic role in the global innovation process of Daiichi Sankyo. Dr. Veronika Rozehnal joined Daiichi Sankyo in 2009 and has held various positions at the Translational Research Center Europe in addition to spending three years at the Daiichi Sankyo R&D Center in Tokyo. Dr. Rozehnal graduated from Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, Germany with a Ph.D. degree in Clinical Pharmacology. “Jürgen Müller has made significant scientific contributions that have helped Daiichi Sankyo
I Squared Announces Launch of Radiant Energy Solutions22.1.2026 08:00:00 EET | Press release
I Squared Capital (“I Squared”), a leading global infrastructure investment manager, announced today the launch of Radiant Energy Solutions (“Radiant”), an investment from I Squared’s Middle East infrastructure strategy, which is focused on targeting transformational, mid-market investments in the region. Reflecting I Squared’s platform-building approach of starting with a core initial investment and scaling over time to build market-leading businesses, Radiant marks the firm’s entry into the Middle East distributed renewables market, providing decarbonization solutions to commercial and industrial customers. The investment for Radiant is the acquisition of FAS Renewables and its 100% owned subsidiary Zahra Energy, a Saudi Arabia–based distributed solar company with a secured and advanced portfolio of over 100MWp of distributed solar projects with established customers and long-term contracted solar power purchase agreements. These include Cenomi Centers, an owner, operator, and develo
IMCAS 2026: Galderma Showcases the Latest Scientific Advances Behind the Industry’s Broadest Injectable Aesthetics Portfolio22.1.2026 08:00:00 EET | Press release
Galderma (SIX: GALD) will present ten posters with the latest updates from across its broad aesthetic portfolio spanning regenerative biostimulation, HA and neuromodulator treatments at the International Master Course on Aging Science (IMCAS) 2026 World Congress in Paris, France, from January 29-31, 2026. The company will also showcase its leadership in community education through a number of events including two symposia, a live anatomy workshop, multiple masterclasses and meet-the-expert sessions, and a booth that will delve into the science behind its innovations. “With ten posters spanning all key aesthetic treatment modalities and areas across the face and body, our data at IMCAS truly showcases the breadth and versatility of our injectable aesthetics portfolio and how we continue to drive innovation with our trusted products. In tandem with our first-class Galderma Aesthetic Injector Network (GAIN) educational activities, conducted in partnership with renowned experts, we are equ
Azafaros Announces Key Scientific Oral and Poster Presentations on Nizubaglustat Accepted for WORLD Symposium™ 202622.1.2026 08:00:00 EET | Press release
Azafaros, a company building a portfolio to become a leader in lysosomal storage disorders with the goal of addressing neurological symptoms, today announced that its lead asset, nizubaglustat, will feature in five scientific presentations accepted at the WORLDSymposium™ 2026, the leading global conference on lysosomal diseases, taking place in San Diego, California, USA between February 2-6. The company’s conference activities include: Oral Presentations (including Poster numbers 134 and 29-C) Long-term data from a Phase II study with oral nizubaglustat for late-infantile/juvenile GM2 and Niemann-Pick Type C diseases (RAINBOW) on February 5, presenting preliminary clinical efficacy and safety data. The data underscore nizubaglustat’s potential as a therapeutic option, reinforcing Azafaros’ commitment to addressing critical unmet needs in lysosomal storage disorders. Nizubaglustat reinstates pro-neuronal transcriptional programs in human CLN3 retinal organoidson February 6 (Rapid Fire
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom