China’s Alibaba to offload Sun Art stake to DCP for $1.6 billion

China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Wednesday it had agreed to sell its majority stake in hypermarket chain Sun Art Retail Group to Chinese private equity firm DCP Capital for HK$12.298 billion ($1.58 billion).

The 78.7 per cent share represents holdings held by Alibaba subsidiaries, according to a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Alibaba paid $3.6 billion for a controlling stake in Sun Art in 2020 in the hope of further leveraging its digital presence to support Sun Art’s hundreds of hypermarkets in China.