A Walmart in the US. Photo credit: Mike Mozart.
Supermarket giant Walmart now owns just over 12 percent of China’s JD, the online store locked in a years-long battle with Jack Ma’s ecommerce empire, according to the US company.
Walmart first took a 5 percent stake in JD mid-2016, but has since quietly upped the ante in China’s online shopping battle by acquiring more of the Alibaba arch-rival. Announced in a filing on Friday, Walmart has just gone from 10.8 to 12.1 percent ownership, reports China Money Network.
Walmart’s JD stake is now worth US$5 billion.
Rising on the back of China’s ongoing ecommerce boom, JD has seen its valuation rise nearly 60 percent since its 2014 IPO in the US.
China’s online shoppers will spend around US$1.2 trillion in 2017, say analysts at Emarketer.
Walmart sold off its Chinese groceries site Yihaodian to JD in 2016, pocketing approximately US$1.5 billion from the deal.
Editing by Judith Balea
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