(Yicai Global) Sept. 22 -- Alibaba Group Holding has invested nearly CNY3.3 billion (USD486.3 million) to increase its holdings of express delivery giant STO Express to further strengthen cooperation.

Alibaba will indirectly add a 10.35 percent stake in the Shanghai-based courier company to have a total of 25 percent of its equity, the target firm said in a statement yesterday. In March 2019, the e-tailer spent CNY4.6 billion to acquire a nearly 15 percent stake. 

The Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant and the delivery firm penned a deal in August 2019 to give Alibaba the right to buy 31.35 percent of STO Express's shares before the end of 2022. That means that it would become the biggest stockholder. 

Currently, Chen Dejun and Chen Xiaoying, the founding brother and sister of STO Express, as well as those acting in concert, hold nearly 36 percent of the firm's shares. They remain the largest shareholder for now.

STO Express is not Alibaba's only pick. The tech firm bought 12 percent of YTO Express Group's equity early this month to have nearly 23 percent of the total. Since then, the delivery company's stock price has fallen nearly 20 percent from the bid price, CNY17.4 (USD2.60). 

Alibaba’s strategy is very clear, the Securities Times reported, citing analyst Cao Yifeng at Dongxing Securities. The e-commerce firm is trying to eliminate competition by taking minority stakes in big logistics firms and big stakes in smaller ones, Cao explained. 

STO Express's stock price [SHE:002468] fell 7.8 percent to CNY15.78 this afternoon amid marketwide slumps. 

Editor: Emmi Laine