Amid mounting pressure from antitrust regulators, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group offloaded its entire stake in a real estate trading platform, retreating from a new business for which it once held high hopes.
Alibaba divulged a plan on April 29 to transfer its 85% stake in Tmall Haofang, a real estate trading platform it launched in September, to partner E-House (China) Enterprise. In return, Alibaba would increase its holdings of E-House shares to 22.57% from 13.26%, further strengthening its position as the second-largest shareholder of one of the country's biggest property agencies.