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Investors in the funding round of Cainiao include Singapore's
Temasek Holdings and GIC Pte Ltd, Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional
Bhd, and China's Primavera Capital, Alibaba said in a statement.
Alibaba did not disclose details of how much money Cainiao
raised, whether it issued equity shares, or at how much the
logistics unit is now valued.
This is Cainiao's first funding round since Alibaba founded it
three years ago, the company said. Then, Alibaba and a group of
Chinese logistics companies said they would spend 100 billion
yuan ($15.40 billion) over five to eight years to develop a
national logistics network.
It was not immediately clear whether Cainiao has already spent
the 100 billion yuan money. An Alibaba spokesman declined to
comment.
Alibaba is seeking to take a lead role in developing China's
fragmented package delivery industry, as e-commerce spreads
beyond urban hubs and requires a more robust logistics network.
In partnership with delivery businesses, Cainiao crunches reams
of data on everything from order trends to delivery routes and
weather patterns to increase efficiency.
Alibaba said it would work with investors to further build out
its "big data logistics network".
China's dominant e-commerce company has been fighting off stiff
competition from smaller rival JD.com Inc, whose loss-making
business model prioritizes controlling a large logistics
network, like Amazon.com Inc's.
(Reporting by Xiaoyi Shao in Beijing and John Ruwitch in
Shanghai; Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore and
Paul Carsten in Beijing; Editing by Kim Coghill and Muralikumar
Anantharaman)
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