ALIBABA Group Holding Ltd. yesterday unveiled its most significant business reshuffle since co-founder Jack Ma announced his pending retirement, as the e-commerce firm looks to bolster its investment focus in the face of slowing growth.

Chief financial officer (CFO) Maggie Wu will oversee Alibaba’s strategic investment unit, taking over that responsibility from executive vice chairman Joe Tsai, who will support Wu in her expanded role, the firm said on its official WeChat account.

The change comes as Alibaba invests in new business lines such as cloud computing as a boom in its core e-commerce has peaked and revenue growth slows.

Media reports said last month that the firm is considering raising as much as US$20 billion through a listing in Hong Kong to boost funds available for investment.

“To guarantee innovation, invest in our future, Alibaba is undertaking an organizational upgrade,” the company said in a statement signed by chief executive officer Daniel Zhang, who will become chairman when Ma retires Sept. 10.

The changes are effective from yesterday, Alibaba said.

Expanding Wu’s remit is aimed at more tightly integrating Alibaba’s investments into its overall eco-system, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Tsai will remain executive vice chairman, the source said.

Wu has been CFO since 2013. Tsai sits on the board and has served on investment committees of Alibaba Group and affiliate Ant Financial. He joined the company in 1999 and emerged as a key dealmaker, helping draw in investment from the likes of U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

In its statement yesterday, Alibaba also said its supermarket division, Freshippo, will become a standalone business, while enterprise software unit DingTalk will be merged into the firm’s cloud unit.

(SD-Agencies)