Alibaba (09988) is planning to invest $1.5 billion to bid for Pupu Supermarket.

On June 12, market rumors stated that Alibaba (09988) plans to invest $1.5 billion (approximately 10.1 billion RMB at the current exchange rate) in a bid to acquire Pop Mart. According to sources, Alibaba's offer is more than double the previous bid by SUNART RETAIL, which may trigger a bidding war. However, as of now, both Alibaba and Pop Mart have not responded to these reports. At the end of May, media reports indicated that Alibaba, Meituan, and JD.com were deeply involved in the bidding process, and the estimated valuation of Pop Mart had risen to a range of $2 billion (approximately 13.5 billion RMB) to $5 billion (approximately 33.8 billion RMB); JD.com later denied their involvement, and Meituan did not respond. Pop Mart was founded in 2016 and has not expanded rapidly, instead focusing on steady market expansion. Currently, they operate in cities such as Fuzhou, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Foshan. Market analysts speculate that Alibaba's Taobao convenience stores mainly cover basic categories such as daily necessities, cosmetics, and alcohol. Hema, as a part of Alibaba, plans to open 1,000 front-end warehouses by 2026, focusing on fresh produce. Pop Mart, with its expertise in the fresh produce warehouse sector, fills a gap in Alibaba's supply chain mapping.