E-commerce group Alibaba has paid approximately $857m for a 15% stake in China-based furniture retailer Beijing Easyhome Furnishing Chain Store Group as part of a RMB13bn ($2.04bn) funding round.
The round also featured insurance firm Taikang and private equity firms Yunfeng Capital and Harvest Capital, the latter of which invested $228m according to Asian Venture Capital Journal.
Founded in 1999, EasyHome operates a chain of 223 stores across 29 Chinese provinces and municipalities that sell furniture, home improvement and building materials. It also provides home design and renovation services.
In addition to its investment, Alibaba will assist EasyHome in digitalising its business, supplying insight into consumer habits, cloud and enterprise technology together with its logistics resources and membership scheme.
Alibaba has made significant investments in brick-and-mortar retailers in the past. It provided $692m for a 25% stake in department store operator InTime in 2014, and took a 36% share of big-box supermarket owner Sun Art Retail Group in November 2017 for almost $2.9bn.
The EasyHome deal came days after Alibaba paid approximately $486m for a 38% stake in Shiji Retail Information Technology, a China-based, publicly listed company that installs big data equipment in hotels and retail outlets.