Thomson Reuters
Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba Group, speaks during the Computing Conference in Yunqi Town of Hangzhou
- Alibaba is rising after buying a major stake in a Chinese grocer.
- The move echoes Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion earlier this year.
- Watch Alibaba's stock move in real time.
Shares of Alibaba are up 2.33% to $189.45 on Monday after the company bought a $2.87 billion stake in China's largest grocery operator.
Alibaba said on Monday it would make an investment in Sun Art Retail Group, which owns 8.2% of China's total grocery market.
The move is reminiscent of Amazon's $13.7 billion deal for Whole Foods, though Alibaba will be only the second-largest shareholder in Sun Art, as opposed to owning the company outright. Alibaba's stake would represent about 36.16% of the company's shares, second only to the French retailer Groupe Auchan's 36.18% stake.
China's food
"Physical stores serve an indispensable role during the consumer journey, and should be enhanced through data-driven technology and personalised services in the digital economy," Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba, said in a statement.
Alibaba is up 113.61% this year, and recently outsold all of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Amazon's "Prime day" during its Singles Day Celebration.
Read more about Singles Day here.
Get the latest Alibaba stock price here.