Tencent Holdings has agreed to purchase a stake in one of China’s largest supermarket chains, Yonghui Superstores.
Shanghai-listed Yonghui announced on Monday evening that Tencent would buy a 5 per cent stake at an unspecified price. encent will also take a 15 per cent stake in Yonghui supply chain and logistics subsidiary Yonghui Yunchuang Technology following further discussions.
The move by Tencent takes it into closer competition with rival Alibaba, which is looking to extend its grip over online commerce into physical stores.
Yonghui, founded in 2001, says it has close to 600 supermarkets in around 20 provinces in China. The firm’s major investors include Dairy Farm Group, part of conglomerate Jardine Matheson Group.
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