CHINESE e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is in talks with Germany’s Metro about taking a stake in the German wholesaler’s China operations.

The talks are at an early stage and could still fall apart, according to sources.

Alibaba’s interest comes after rival Tencent last year signed a partnership deal with France’s Carrefour.

U.S.-listed Alibaba, which runs consumer-oriented online shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall and food delivery app Ele.me, is looking to develop a business-focused retail strategy, said the sources. Teaming up with a wholesaler like Metro could also bring synergy to its fresh produce units Hema and Yiguo, the sources added.

Any deal would add to the HK$22.4 billion (US$2.87 billion) Alibaba spent in 2017 on a major stake in China’s top hypermart operator, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd., as part of a push to build big-data capabilities in the offline retail market.

For its part, Metro was once a sprawling retail conglomerate but has been restructuring in recent years to focus on its core cash-and-carry business, selling Kaufhof department stores and then splitting from consumer electronics group Ceconomy.

Metro has 95 stores in China and real estate assets in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Metro’s chief executive officer Olaf Koch said Tuesday that the German firm was reviewing potential partnerships with local players in China. (SD-Agencies)