(Yicai) April 23 -- Freshippo has refuted a rumor that its founder and former chief executive officer Hou Yi and the ex-chairman and CEO of Alibaba Daniel Zhang have made an offer of USD2 billion to acquire the supermarket chain under Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding.

Hou, who set up Freshippo in 2015, and Zhang, who is now working for investment firm Firstred Capital, are not bidding to buy the grocery chain for USD2 billion, Securities Times reported yesterday, citing the Shanghai-based company, after rumors started circulating on April 21.

This is not the first time that Freshippo has fended off rumors about its sale. Last month it refuted hearsay that Alibaba was selling Freshippo to state-owned food processing giant COFCO for CNY10 billion (USD1.4 billion). The same rumor claimed that Alibaba was also selling supermarket chain RT-Mart to COFCO for CNY20 billion. RT-Mart also denied the claims.

The rumors might have been sparked by remarks made by Chairman Joseph Tsai in February. Alibaba’s brick-and-mortar retail business is not part of the Hangzhou-based company’s core business and an eventual withdrawal is not unlikely, he said. However, such an exit may need more time depending on market conditions, he added.

Hou served as CEO at Freshippo until he stepped down in March upon reaching the ripe old age of 60. Zhang, who left the e-commerce giant in September 2023, is now working alongside FirstRed founder Liu Xiaodan to build the company into a future-oriented M&A investment fund, the Beijing-based company said last month.

Editor: Kim Taylor