Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding has upped its stake in delivery firm YTO Express.
YTO yesterday confirmed that Alibaba had purchased an additional 12% of its shares for Yuan6.6bn, bringing its stake in the company to 22.5%.
News that Alibaba could be looking to up its presence in YTO broke last week.
YTO is China’s third-largest express delivery firm by parcel volume, with a 14% share of the market in 2019.
Alibaba has been ramping up its presence in China’s fast growing express market over the last couple of years as the speed and quality of delivery becomes an important differentiator in the competitive world of e-commerce.
Most recently, the company took a 14% stake in STO Express Co Ltd, another major player in the Chinese delivery market.
The company has the goal of 24 hour delivery anywhere in China and 72 hours globally.
STO Express was Alibaba’s fourth investment in the Chinese courier sector after it acquired minority stakes in YTO Express Group Co Ltd, Best Inc and ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.
Its logistics network is run through subsidiary, Cainiao, which provides software and shares data with warehouses, carriers and other logistics companies to deliver packages to shoppers on Tmall and Taobao, Alibaba’s largest e-commerce sites.
