Alibaba to sell department store chain Intime for $1 billion

(Reuters) – Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group said on Tuesday that it will sell its department store unit Intime to a consortium comprising of textiles firm Youngor Fashion and some of Intime’s management for 7.4 billion yuan ($1.02 billion).

The deal comes as Alibaba looks to shift focus from its dominance in China’s retail sector to its core e-commerce and cloud operations.

Alibaba, which owns a 99% stake in Intime, expects to record a loss of about 9.3 billion yuan on its initial investment in Intime, it said.

The sale is part of the tech giant’s restructuring efforts, with Intime facing challenges due to a significant decline in Chinese consumer spending post-Covid-19.

Intime was valued at around $4 billion in 2017 when Alibaba acquired the chain, which owns more than 100 stores in China.

Alibaba, under former boss Daniel Zhang, expanded its presence in the retail sector by taking over several brick-and-mortar chains, including electronics retailer Suning and hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail.

($1 = 7.2841 Chinese yuan renminbi)