From NASDAQ:

Alibaba Group is looking to sell some of its assets in the consumer sector including grocery business Freshippo and retailer RT-Mart. The sale plan is part of its strategy to focus on its core e-commerce business and divest non-core, loss-making units. Talks with strategic and financial investors are still in the early stages.

There are discussions about selling Intime as well, but it is not certain whether Alibaba will proceed with the plan. Bloomberg reported that Alibaba is considering selling InTime and has reached out to several firms to gauge their interest in acquiring its department store arm. Alibaba, RT-Mart and Intime did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The divestment efforts are part of Alibaba’s broader restructuring and China’s tightened scrutiny over initial public offerings. Eddie Wu took over as CEO and laid out the company’s future strategy, emphasizing the need for each business to face the market independently. The company is conducting a strategic review to distinguish between “core” and “non-core” businesses.

Freshippo, known as Hema in Chinese, is a supermarket chain in China with more than 300 stores in 28 cities. Plans to list in Hong Kong last year were put on hold, but the grocery chain set out to raise funds at a valuation of about $6 billion in 2022, lower than the hoped-for $10 billion. Alibaba invested $3.6 billion in 2020 to acquire a controlling stake in hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, which runs RT-Mart.

Alibaba’s investments in brick-and-mortar retail have not translated to profits, as growth in e-commerce has slowed. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.



Read more: EXCLUSIVE-Alibaba considers sale of consumer assets including Freshippo, RT-Mart – sources