Alibaba Sells Intime at a Loss of Approximately $1.28 Billion

Forex - Chinese e-commerce and technology group Alibaba is selling its major department store chain Intime as part of its restructuring process. According to a statement from Alibaba Group, the company has agreed to sell Intime, in which it holds a minority stake, to Chinese textile and ready-to-wear group Youngor Group for approximately 7.4 billion yuan (about 1.02 billion dollars) in gross revenue.

Alibaba had purchased the large department store chain Intime in 2017 for 2.5 billion dollars. The company expects to record an approximate loss of 9.3 billion yuan (about 1.28 billion dollars) related to the sale of Intime.

This move comes as Alibaba restructures its business to focus on the e-commerce sector amid increasing competition from Chinese rivals. The company has faced challenges in boosting revenue growth in the context of a slowing Chinese economy and a more aggressive competitive landscape. Local upstarts like PDD Holding's Pinduoduo e-commerce platform and ByteDance's short video application Douyin have been taking market share from Alibaba.