Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Wednesday night that it will sell all of its shares in hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group Ltd to private equity firm DCP Capital for HK$13.13 billion ($1.69 billion) as the company focuses on its core e-commerce business.

Alibaba said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it holds approximately 73.66 percent of Sun Art's shares through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, and it will no longer hold any equity interest in Sun Art following the completion of the deal.

In 2020, the tech heavyweight invested $3.6 billion to gain a controlling stake in Sun Art, upping the ante in China's fierce retail market.

The move came after Alibaba announced in December that it would sell its department store chain Intime to textile and apparel company Youngor for 7.4 billion yuan ($1.01 billion).

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