Shares of Shiji Information Technology surged after it said that Ant Group's venture capital unit will invest RMB 450 million (USD 68.6 million) in the former's retail software unit.
Yunxin Venture Capital will buy a 6 percent stake in Sixun Software from Shiji IT for RMB 270 million and more from another seller to have 10 percent of the total, the Beijing-based parent said in a statement yesterday. Shiji IT will keep 67.2 percent of the equity after the deal.
The deepening partnership can help Sixun Software to rely on Ant Group's ecosystem and give it a competitive edge in retail digitalization and the Internet of Things to strengthen its positioning, according to the statement.
Founded in 2004, Sixun Software makes applications for retailers. In the first half of 2020, it raked in RMB 4.5 million (USD 686,541) in net profit. Its operating income was RMB 130 million. In 2014, Shiji IT bought a 75 percent stake in it.
The companies have underlying links. Alibaba's Taobao China Software acquired 13 percent of Shiji IT's shares for RMB 2.4 billion (USD 370 million) in September 2014 to become its second-largest shareholder. The two have cooperated in the fields of hospitality, catering, retail, and payments.
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