Alibaba is proceeding its push into the logistics sector with plans to buy a stake in Chinese courier service firm STO Express.
The deal represents the Chinese technology company’s fourth investment in an specific courier firm. To date, Alibaba owns 10% of Chinese courier ZTO, 11% of YTO, and 27.9% of Best Logistics. In 2017, the company also invested an additional 7mn in Cainiao to gain a controlling stake in the firm.
 
On Monday (11 March), STO Express announced that its controlling shareholder, Shanghai Deyin Investment Holdings Co. Ltd., plans to generate a new subsidiary that will own a 29.9% stake in the courier firm.
Alibaba says it will pay 4.66bn yuan (US3.3mn) for a 49% stake in the new subsidiary and, in turn, it will hold more than 14% of STO Express.
 
In a statement, Alibaba stated its investment in 'one of the top five express delivery companies in China'. 'We will enlarge our active collaboration with STO in technology, last-mile delivery across China and New Retail logistics,' the company said. 'This investment is a step forward in our quest of the goal of 24-hour-delivery anywhere in China and 72 hours globally.”



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com