Alibaba Group Holding will pay about 5.45 billion yuan (US $866 million) for a 15 percent stake in China’s Easyhome, a home improvement chain, as the internet giant expands its investments in offline and retail businesses and will also pump US $486 million into a big data retail firm.
The investment in Easyhome underscores the company’s retail strategy, aimed at leveraging offline and online activities, Alibaba said in a statement.
Easyhome, which started operations in 1999, is China’s second-biggest home improvement supplies and furniture chain operator, the statement said. The Beijing-based company reported more than 60 billion yuan in sales last year.
The firm will buy a 38 per cent stake in Shiji Retail Information Technology Co via its subsidiary Alibaba Investment Ltd, Shiji’s listed parent said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Thursday.
