Suning.com, the retail arm of major Chinese conglomerate Suning, signed an agreement with Yunfeng Investment to jointly set up a private equity fund that will manage assets worth up to USD 2.5 billion.
The subsidiary called Suning International will contribute USD 210 million to the new fund named Yunfeng Fund III, L.P, the firm disclosed in a filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Thursday. 61.41% of the sum has already been handed over, according to the filing.
This investment is meant to help implement Suning’s smart retail strategy and enrich Suning’s ecosystem with the goal to gain financial returns, Suning.com says.
In February Suning.com announced that it would buy 37 department stores from commercial property group Wanda as a backbone for its online-to-offline strategy.
Suning.com’s first quarter report of this year shows that the transactions on this deal were completed in this time period. The report also shows that the company made a net profit of RMB 135.9 million ( USD 20 million) in the first three months of this year, up by 22.16% year-on-year.
Alibaba’s Taobao holds a nearly 20% stake in Suning.com while Zhang is the actual controller of the company, according to this financial report.
Yunfeng Capital was co-founded by Alibaba’s chairman Jack Ma in 2010.
Ant Financial, Xiaomi, and the world’s largest battery maker CATL are all among Yunfeng’s investment portfolio.
In addition, Yunfeng’s portfolio sports unicorn companies including electric vehicle maker Xiaopeng Motors, online car trading platform Guazi, and online ride-hailing platform Ucar.
Contact the writer at jingli@kr-asia.com
Editor: Nadine Freischlad
