(Yicai) March 12 -- A subsidiary of JD.com is offloading its entire stake in Yonghui Superstores to raise cash for its own purposes, which will mark the Chinese e-commerce giant's complete exit from the struggling supermarket chain.

Beijing Jingdong Century Trade will sell a maximum of 90.7 million shares via centralized bidding and up to 176 million shares via block trading over a three-month period starting April 2, Yonghui said yesterday. This amounts to 2.9 percent of Fuzhou-based Yonghui’s total equity.

JD.com first invested in Yonghui in August 2015, buying CNY4.2 billion (USD620 million) of shares, according to public records. Then, in May 2018, the Beijing-based firm injected another CNY1.2 billion (USD178 million) into the company.

However, the supermarket chain entered into difficulties in 2021 and after several years of racking up losses, JD.com started to trim its stake in Yonghui. On March 20 last year, it offloaded around 1 percent of shares through a public auction, diluting its holdings to 12.3 percent.

Then in September 2024, JD.com, along with two other shareholders, sold a 29.4 percent stake in Yonghui, leaving JD.com with only 2.9 percent equity. At that point, Guangdong Juncai International Trading, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese retailer Miniso Group, took formal control of Yonghui.

In recent years, Yonghui has faced both operational and financial difficulties. On Jan. 15, it warned of a net loss of CNY1.4 billion (USD193 billion) in 2024, making its fourth consecutive year of losses. The firm ran up deficits of CNY1.3 billion (USD183 million) in 2023, CNY2.8 billion (USD386 million) in 2022 and CNY3.9 billion (USD537 million) in 2021.

Yonghui's share price [SHA: 601933] tumbled 1.8 percent today to end at CNY4.81 (USD0.66). Earlier in the day it slumped 2.8 percent to CNY4.76.

Editor: Kim Taylor