E-commerce giant buys stake in hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is expanding into offline retail by acquiring over one-third of the stakes in China's largest hypermarket chain operator.

The e-commerce giant announced on Monday it would purchase 36.16 percent of Sun Art Retail Group, which has the biggest slice of China's hypermarket business with a market share of around 15 percent, according to consultancy Euromonitor International.