In a recent announcement by Gaungxin Retail, the parent company of the large chain supermarket RT-Mart, it was revealed that Dehong Capital has completed the acquisition of 78.7% of the shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (Alibaba) in Hong Kong on February 27, 2025. With this transaction, RT-Mart has officially changed ownership, marking a significant milestone in the company’s history. The news of this ownership change has gained significant attention, making it a hot topic on Baidu on March 6.
According to the disclosure in the “Acquisition Agreement Delivery (2) Supplemental Acquisition Agreement (3) Mandatory Unconditional Offer to Gaungxin Retail Limited” by Gaungxin Retail, the acquisition of RT-Mart by Alibaba has been successfully finalized in Hong Kong. Dehong Capital, as the buyer, has purchased a total of approximately 7.508 billion shares, representing 78.7% of the total issued share capital of RT-Mart as of February 27. The consideration for this transaction will be paid in two installments, with the first payment of around 6.907 billion Hong Kong dollars already settled in cash on the agreement delivery date, and the remaining payment of approximately 3.454 billion Hong Kong dollars, along with a maximum interest of 0.20 Hong Kong dollars per share, to be deferred and paid in cash on the applicable second payment date of the acquisition agreement.
The announcement stated, “As the transaction delivery date was February 27, 2025, the comprehensive documents will be jointly sent to shareholders by Dehong Capital and our company on or before March 6, 2025.”
After Alibaba announced its clear-out in October 2024, the process of RT-Mart changing ownership to Gaungxin Retail has now been completed after more than four months of negotiations and legal procedures.
Simultaneously, Gaungxin Retail also announced important changes in its senior management. Huang Mingyuan has resigned as the chairman of the board, and will be succeeded by Hua Yuneng from Dehong Capital. In the disclosure of “Non-Executive Director Changes; (2) Chairman Changes; and (3) Director Committee Changes,” Hua Yuneng takes over the role of chairman from Huang Mingyuan as well as non-executive director positions, while Wang Guannan and Mei Mengxue are appointed as non-executive directors and members of the nomination and audit committees respectively. All three individuals have backgrounds in Dehong Capital, with Hua Yuneng being the co-founder and CEO of the company at the age of 51.
Regarding Huang Mingyuan’s reason for resigning as chairman of the board, Gaungxin Retail stated that it was due to the change in control after the completion of the acquisition agreement, as well as the departing director’s desire to focus on personal matters and other business activities.
In response to the significant senior management changes at Gaungxin Retail, retail expert Bao Yuezhong commented to Huaxia Times, “This is a normal personnel adjustment, considering that Alibaba has now sold RT-Mart and the new major shareholder would naturally consider executive reshuffling.”
Since March of last year, there have been rumors in the market about Alibaba seeking potential buyers for RT-Mart.
According to a report from the official account of Zibo Daily News, there were rumors last March that COFCO Group would acquire Alibaba’s shares for 10 billion RMB, which was later denied by Alibaba. There were also speculations that the potential buyers could be KKR Group and Hillhouse Capital, with Hillhouse Capital being considered the most likely buyer for RT-Mart at that time.
In September of last year, Gaungxin Retail issued an announcement stating that on September 27, trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was briefly suspended from 9:39 am to await the release of insider information in accordance with the company’s acquisition and merger rules. The market interpreted this announcement as a confirmation of the news of RT-Mart being sold.
RT-Mart, a large chain supermarket in Taiwan, was founded by Ron Tot Group chairman Yin Yanliang. In 1997, RT-Mart established Shanghai RT-Mart Co., Ltd. in mainland China.
In 2010, RT-Mart replaced Carrefour as the retail leader in mainland China with a revenue of 40.4 billion RMB. In 2011, Gaungxin Retail was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and at its peak, the company reached a market capitalization of up to 127.8 billion Hong Kong dollars, becoming the largest retailer in China. As of February 8, 2025, RT-Mart had a total of 500 stores.
In March 2025, Gaungxin Retail announced that RT-Mart has changed ownership to Dehong Capital. The sale of RT-Mart by Alibaba has now been finalized.
In 2017, Alibaba made its initial investment in Gaungxin Retail, acquiring 36.16% of the company’s shares for 22.4 billion Hong Kong dollars (approximately 2.88 billion US dollars). In 2020, Alibaba increased its stake in Gaungxin Retail by purchasing more shares for 28 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 3.6 billion US dollars), ultimately holding a total of 72% of Gaungxin Retail’s shares, making it the controlling shareholder.