ALIBABA Group Holding Ltd. plans to buy at least 10 percent of Yunda Holding Co., marking the e-commerce giant’s fifth investment in a large courier, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Alibaba is looking to buy the stake from Yunda’s controlling shareholders — founding couple Nie Tengyun and Chen Liying — who own 52.19 percent of Yunda through their wholly owned firm Shanghai LuoJieSi Investment Management, said one of the people. At the current market price, the stake would be worth at least US$790 million.

The other person said Alibaba could go beyond 10 percent and buy up to 15 percent of Shenzhen-listed Yunda.

Under Chinese regulations, a stake of over 5 percent in a domestically listed company can be sold at a discount of as much as 10 percent to the firm’s share price on the last trading day prior to a deal.

Based on Monday’s closing price, the deal could fetch at least US$790 million, as Yunda has a market capitalization of about US$8.78 billion.

Alibaba has already bought a small stake in Yunda, which is below threshold for disclosure, said other sources.

Alibaba declined to comment. Yunda did not respond to a request for comment.

The move would mark another step forward in Alibaba’s efforts to gain a bigger say in China’s fragmented but fast-growing express delivery industry.

Domestic delivery firms dispatched 63 billion parcels last year, up 24 percent from 2018, while revenue grew 23 percent year on year to 745 billion yuan (US$104.95 billion), data from the State Post Bureau showed in January. (SD-Agencies)