Alibaba Takes 6.1% Stake in Swiss Duty-Free Retailer Dufry

What’s New: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. agreed to buy a 6.1% stake in Dufry AG as part of the Swiss-based travel retailer’s share placement to raise a roughly $900 million.

Alibaba will pay 163 million Swiss francs ($179 million) for the shares, Dufry said Tuesday. The Chinese company will also invest 69.5 million francs in Dufry via convertible notes. The three-year notes can be converted to 2.1 million Dufry shares.

What’s the context: The capital injection will boost Dufry, the world’s largest travel retailer, at a time when sales plunged amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The tie-up followed the establishment of a China joint venture between Alibaba and Dufry as the two companies eye further tapping the Chinese retail market. The Chinese government issued a series of policies to ease controls on domestic duty-free shopping as part of efforts to boost the economy.

Alibaba has spent billions acquiring slices of brick-and-mortar retail chains, seeking to broaden its reach and use its technology to modernize physical commerce.

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Related: Cover Story: Why China Is Expanding Access to Duty-Free Shopping

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).

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