Alibaba hungry for top spot in food delivery market

The country's food delivery market is edging closer to duopoly amid a rumored deal that would pit the nation's top two internet firms in direct competition.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is likely to gain the upper hand in the lucrative online-to-offline catering business, after it was reported by Bloomberg on Monday to be buying out Ele.me, the largest food delivery provider by market share.

The tech giant had held 23 percent in Ele.me by May 2017. The startup is now estimated to be valued at around $9.5 billion. But it remained unclear how much Alibaba would pay to the other shareholders in Ele.me, including search engine Baidu Inc.