According to foreign media reports, Alibaba Group is considering selling its department store and shopping mall operator Intime Commercial. The move signals that Alibaba is rethinking its years-long "new retail" strategy amid a massive restructuring.New retail aims to achieve a seamless online and offline shopping experience.
Alibaba has approached several companies to gauge their interest in acquiring Intime, according to people familiar with the matter.Intime has more than 100 stores and shopping malls in China. People familiar with the matter said that Tsai Chongxin would succeed Zhang Yong as chairman of Alibaba's board of directors in 2023, and Alibaba launched sale negotiations around this time.Just last month, Alibaba was in talks with a potential buyer.
In 2017, Intime was valued at approximately US$4 billion in a privatization transaction led by Alibaba. It's unclear whether Intime will be able to attract enough interest and early exploratory talks may fail. However, Ali’s latest efforts indicate that Tsai Chongxin and Ali’s new CEO Wu Yongming are considering the next step in reforming Ali.
The sale of Intime marks Alibaba's move to topple former CEO Zhang Yong in one of his signature acquisitions.While in charge of Alibaba, Zhang Yong planned the acquisition of a series of physical chain stores in an attempt to create a "new retail" model that integrates online and offline. The concept was once central to Alibaba's growth strategy, but in recent years Alibaba executives have talked less about it.Now, facing fierce competition, Alibaba is struggling to grow its core business and revive relatively new businesses such as cloud services.