Alibaba says Intime privatization on track

Hong Kong-listed leading department store operator Intime Retail (Group) will be privatized this year - in a move led by its single largest shareholder, e-commerce giant Alibaba Investment - Intime's chairman said, adding that 2017 would be the first year of a new retail era.

Daniel Zhang Yong, chairman of Intime Retail who is also Alibaba's CEO, said Intime would team up with Alibaba to continue integrating its online business with the offline and innovate to develop a new retail business, amid an overall slowdown in the traditional industry.

Zhang said full privatization of the company would let Intime Retail be more flexible and efficient in redefining its retail business. He said Alibaba was an expert in information technology and big data, which would benefit Intime Retail in conducting retail initiatives, adding that internet companies also needed to integrate with the physical economy.