(Yicai Global) Dec. 22 -- An affiliate of Chinese e-commerce stalwart Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is partnering up with its founder's venture capital firm to become two of the largest stakeholders in a Shanghai-based dairy importer and scale up business development to boost its New Retail concept.

Shanghai Yunfeng Xinchuang Investment Management Ltd., backed by Alibaba's founder and Chairman Jack Ma, and Alibaba China Network Technology Co. will plow more than CNY331 million (USD50 million) into Theland Milk Shanghai E-Commerce Co., its current controlling shareholder, Hunan Dakang International Food & Agriculture Co., said in a statement yesterday evening.

Alibaba China Network will pay more than CNY232 million for a 40-percent stake to become the company's largest shareholder, while its partner will spend almost CNY99 million on a 17-percent share to become the third biggest. Hunan Dakang's stake will fall to 33 percent from 85 percent and it will transfer its 100-percent stake in Milk New Zealand Dairy Ltd. to the target company, the statement added.

New Retail, a concept that Jack Ma proposed last year, has blurred the boundary between e-commerce and traditional retail. Under the model, which Ma describes as "the integration of online, offline, logistics and data across a single value chain," Alibaba has taken over a number of offline retailers to enhance their efficiency and ramp up its market share. It recently plans to open car vending machines in major Chinese cities in order to make life easier for vehicle buyers.

Hunan Dakang [SHE:002505] saw its share price hit the 10-percent limit up at market open and the stock stayed there all day.