Alibaba has offered US$1.5 billion to acquire Pupu, a Fujian-based instant grocery delivery platform, according to people familiar with the matter.

The bid tops an earlier US$600 million takeover offer from Sun Art Retail, a Chinese hypermarket operator now backed by private equity firm DCP Capital.

The approach comes as consolidation picks up in China’s online grocery market after Meituan agreed to buy Dingdong’s China business for US$717 million. That deal is still subject to antitrust clearance.

Pupu is one of the last independent online grocery companies in China not yet acquired.

It generates more than 30 billion yuan (US$4.43 billion) in annual revenue and runs a 30-minute delivery network across about 10 cities in Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Hubei.

Any sale of Pupu to a major platform could face regulatory scrutiny.

China’s antitrust regulator previously fined Alibaba 18.2 billion yuan (US$2.69 billion) and Meituan 3.4 billion yuan (US$502 million) for abusive market conduct.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

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