Alibaba buys 20% stake in mainland electronics retailer Suning

Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba (BABA.NYSE) has announced it will pay RMB28.3 billion (US$4.6 billion) to buy a 20% stake in brick-and-mortar electronics retailer Suning (002024.SHE), The New York Times reported. Alibaba will pay about 10% more than the price of Suning’s shares before trading was suspended on August 3 in Shenzhen. Suning also said Monday that it would pay US$2.28 billion for a 1.1% stake in Alibaba, paying a premium of 4% above the company’s share price at the close of Friday trading in New York. The firms emphasized in a news release that they would work to integrate Suning’s retail stores into the infrastructure of Alibaba’s many mobile applications.