PARIS: China’s e-commerce behemoth Alibaba has bought a controlling $3.6 billion stake in SunArt which runs hundreds of hypermarkets on the mainland for French shopping giant Auchan. It also hands over control of 13 million square meters (140 million square feet) of retail space in scores of cities across the country. SunArt was created by Auchan in 2000 with Ruentex Group and joined in an “alliance” with Alibaba in 2017. Alibaba quickly set about transforming SunArt from a traditional bricks-and-mortar hypermarket to an online groceries hub, matching its wider e-commerce goods business. “Sun Art has made significant progress in the digital transformation,” Alibaba said in a statement Monday announcing its $3.6 billion investment.

Source: Manila Times October 19, 2020 07:18 UTC