News & Events

The Firm is representing Alibaba Group Holding Limited (“Alibaba”) in connection with its recently announced investment in Suning Commerce Group Limited (“Suning”) and Suning’s investment in Alibaba. Pursuant to the terms of the transaction agreement, Alibaba will invest approximately RMB28.3 billion (US$4.63 billion) for a 19.99% stake in Suning, one of the largest consumer electronics retail chains in China. Upon completion of Alibaba’s investment in Suning, Alibaba will be the second-largest shareholder in the company. Concurrent with Alibaba’s investment in Suning, Suning will invest up to RMB14 billion (US$2.28 billion) to subscribe for up to 27.8 million newly issued ordinary shares of Alibaba. Upon completion of Suning’s investment in Alibaba, Suning will hold approximately a 1.1% interest in Alibaba’s enlarged issued and outstanding share capital. As part of these investments, Alibaba and Suning have entered into a strategic collaboration agreement to build on synergies in e-commerce, logistics and incremental business through joint omni-channel initiatives. 

Consummation of Alibaba’s investment in Suning and the investment by Suning in Alibaba are subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and, in the case of the investment by Alibaba in Suning, the approval of the shareholders of Suning. 

The Simpson Thacher team includes Katie Sudol, Leiming Chen, Yang Wang and Bruce Sun (Corporate – Hong Kong); and Amy Liu (Corporate – Beijing).