TENCENT Holdings Ltd. is leading a deal to invest 10 billion yuan (US$1.59 billion) in menswear group Heilan Home Co., upping a retail rivalry with fellow Internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., sources with knowledge of the matter said.

JD.com Inc., China’s second-largest e-commerce company, and online clothing platform Vipshop Holdings Ltd. will also be among the group that plans to acquire less than 10 percent of the company for 5 billion yuan, one source said.

Another 5 billion yuan would help set up an industrial investment fund to focus on deals that fit with Heilan’s business, the source said.

Heilan had a market value of about US$8.13 billion as of Monday, when it halted shares from trading, pending deal announcements.

The proposed deal, which could be announced as early as Friday, extends a recent push by Tencent, China’s biggest social network and gaming company, into bricks-and-mortar retail to further compete with Alibaba.

Heilan, which has clothing brands such as HLA and SANCANAL, has been a long-time partner of Alibaba’s online marketplace Tmall.

But last month, Tencent, which has a market capitalization of US$563 billion, said it would invest 4.2 billion yuan for a stake in Yonghui Superstores. It is also looking to take a stake in the China business of French supermarket retailer Carrefour.

The recent moves reflect a wider, long-running stand-off between Tencent and Alibaba, which have made competing investments in areas as diverse as bike-sharing apps, food delivery and gaming.

JD.com, in which Tencent is a top-10 investor, traditionally leads against Alibaba in online retail sales of electronics and home appliance products, but lags behind in the fashion business.

Tencent and JD.com last month jointly made an US$863 million investment in Vipshop.

(SD-Agencies)