Alibaba (9988) plans to acquire grocery delivery platform Pupu for US$1.5 billIon (HK$11.7 billion), representing more than double the amount compared to an earlier bid from Sun Art Retail (6808), Bloomberg reported.
Sun Art, previously tied to Alibaba and now backed by DCP Capital, had earlier proposed a US$600 million buyout, the report said.
This move signals Alibaba’s intent to capture more e-commerce market share from its rival, Meituan (3690). Just a few months ago, Meituan announced to acquire the Chinese business of the fresh grocery e-commerce giant Dingdong for an initial consideration of US$717 million.
Fujian-based Pupu, which generates annual revenue exceeding 30 billion yuan (HK$34.6 billion), remains one of the few independent online grocery platforms in China that have not yet been acquired.
