JD to Subscribe for 5.37% of China Dili’s Shares for HK$798M, Eyes Grocery Supply Chain

On the evening of Dec. 27, China Dili Group issued an announcement that e-commerce giant JD.com intends to subscribe for 5.37% of China Dili’s shares for HK$798 million. The two parties aim to jointly build China’s strongest grocery supply chain.

As a Hong Kong-listed company, China Dili owns 10 large-scale agricultural product wholesale markets in 7 cities including Shouguang, Hangzhou, Shenyang and Harbin.

In January 2019, the company transformed part of its strategy, upgrading its businesses and utilizing service empowerment. After the transition, Dili is heading towards a more integrated and digitalized grocery service system instead of simply being a fresh food provider.

Later in October, China Dili strategically invested in grocery retail chain Dili Fresh Food, fulfilling a complete circle from production to retail. As of today, Dili Fresh Food, now the largest full-category, omni-channel community fresh food chain in China, has more than 400 stores in more than ten large and medium-sized cities across the country.

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The subscription provides China Dili a chance to broaden its shareholder base and raise funds for its future development and business expansion.

For JD.com, the investment in China Dili echoes its recent deployment in community group buying, where the company has invested about $700 million in Xingsheng Preference Electronic Business Limited, a community group buying e-commerce platform, as JD announced on Dec. 11.