Alibaba Acquires Controlling Stake in Sun Art
19.10.2020 03:05:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
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
SPIE Announces 2027 Prism Awards Finalists for Best Photonics Products4.11.2026 22:22:00 EET | Press release
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, has announced finalists in the seven categories for the 2027 Prism Awards, which recognize remarkable new photonics products on the market. Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at SPIE Photonics West on 3 February 2027 in San Francisco, California. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104613876/en/ SPIE has announced the finalists for the 2027 SPIE Prism Awards, which recognize optics and photonics innovations. Recipients will be announced at the awards ceremony on 3 February 2027 at SPIE Photonics West. During the Prism Awards, SPIE will also announce the winner of the SPIE Catalyst Award, honoring a for-profit company with social or environmental programs that have made significant advances in workplace opportunity, community engagement, or environmental progress. Finalists for this year’s Catalyst Award, now in its fourth year, are Lume
Every Critical System Should Have a Backup: Elliptic Opens Up Fast Track Monitoring to the Crypto Industry4.11.2026 22:07:00 EET | Press release
Elliptic, the leader in on-chain risk management, is making Fast Track Monitoring available to firms with digital assets exposure as a back up screening option for firms that need business continuity, if their primary screening service is unavailable and they need a second option. Criminals are increasingly using AI to scale their attacks, so on-chain risk now moves at machine speed. Compliance teams need the broadest range of options to keep screening every wallet and transaction, and a second screening provider builds resilience into any on-chain risk management approach. Elliptic recommends every business has one in place. Organizations that rely on a single screening vendor can also still need a second option. Fast Track Monitoring gives compliance teams real-time wallet and transaction screening powered by Elliptic Lens, with a clear, explainable risk score on every wallet and transaction. When screening stops, a compliance lead faces two hard choices: hold customer withdrawals, o
Smartsheet Adds New AI Agents, Integrations and Security Advancements at ENGAGE 20264.11.2026 20:00:00 EET | Press release
Smartsheet, the AI-powered enterprise work management platform, today announced new platform capabilities at ENGAGE 2026, its annual customer conference. The company introduced new AI agents, agentic workflows, system integrations and security controls built to end execution drift: the costly gap between what an organization sets out to deliver and what it actually delivers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104562370/en/ Today, Smartsheet introduced new AI agents, agentic workflows, system integrations and security controls built to end execution drift. AI has helped teams move faster, but it is also widening execution drift. As AI agents join people, partners and systems in doing the work, three problems keep that distance from closing. Data is scattered across disconnected tools, so no one sees the full picture. AI is arriving faster than IT can govern it, so leaders hesitate to scale it. Most AI also lack
MultiBank Exchange Holding Forms Predominantly Emirati Board as Platform Records US$500 Billion in Monthly Trading Volume4.11.2026 19:54:00 EET | Press release
MultiBank Group has announced the formation of a predominantly Emirati Board of Directors for MultiBank Exchange Holding, the first interbank trading platform in the BRICS and emerging countries, which achieved in October 2026 a turnover of over US$ 0.5 Trillion. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104483253/en/ Naser Taher, Chairman of MultiBank Exchange Holding, announced the board which comprises: H.H. Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, Board Member; H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Saqr bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Board Member; H.E. Mohammed Al Hakim, Vice Chairman of the Board; H.E. Ali bin Khalid bin Zayed Al Falasi, Board Member; H.E. Rashid Sultan Al Malik, Board Member; Mr. Majid Al Ghaslan, Board Member; and Mr. David Ogg, Board Member. Naser Taher, Chairman of MultiBank Exchange Holding, announced the board which comprises: H.H. Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, Board Member. H.E. Sheikh Moham
Smartsheet Unveils vsActual: The AI-Native Platform that Connects Strategy to Execution at ENGAGE 20264.11.2026 19:00:00 EET | Press release
Smartsheet, the AI-powered enterprise work management platform, today unveiled a new AI-native strategic planning and execution product at ENGAGE 2026, its annual customer conference. vsActual is designed to solve the two biggest obstacles to enterprise execution: siloed work scattered across disconnected systems and teams, and the manual tracking and reporting that keeps individuals and executives from seeing problems until it’s too late. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104989965/en/ Today, Smartsheet unveiled a new AI-native strategic planning and execution product, vsActual. AI is helping individuals move faster than ever, but it's also making it harder to keep everyone moving in the same direction. In fact, a PMI research report found that leaders cited the disconnect between planning and execution as the biggest barrier to reinventing their businesses, and VentureBeat Intelligence found that 64% of res
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