Is New Retail a thing of the past? It is rumored that Alibaba is evaluating the sale of Intime Retail.

Zhitong App learned that on February 1st, according to media reports, Alibaba (09988) is considering selling its department store and shopping center operator, Intime Retail, and has been in contact with several potential acquirers. It is reported that these discussions began before and after Joseph Tsai took on important positions. If this sale becomes a reality, it may indicate that the company is reevaluating its "New Retail" strategy that has been in place for many years. The goal of New Retail is to achieve a seamless shopping experience that connects online and offline channels.

It is reported that Intime Retail has over 100 stores and shopping centers in China. In 2017, Alibaba privatized Intime Retail for approximately HKD 19.8 billion. Currently, Alibaba is focusing on the development of its core businesses and cloud services. The potential sale of Intime Retail may be part of this strategic adjustment.

In late December last year, Morgan Stanley released a research report stating that the establishment of an asset management company indicates the potential acceleration of the monetization or disposal of non-core assets by BABA-SWR. The bank believes that BABA-SWR's offline retail assets, such as Sun Art Retail (06808), Intime Retail, Suning, Red Star Macalline (01528), and Lianhua Supermarket (00980), may be monetized or sold. As of December 20, 2023, the total market value of these offline retail assets held by BABA-SWR amounted to USD 200 million. The expected financial impact of this move includes increasing the return on invested capital at the expense of reducing future revenue, improving profit margins, unlikely significant increase in profits, and cash recovery. The bank believes that with more cash, BABA-SWR may increase capital returns to shareholders, such as through share buybacks and dividends.