FAST NEWS: Alibaba cuts Gogox stake for eighth time in three months

The latest: Internet giant Alibaba (BABA.US; 9988.HK) disclosed it sold about 1.22 million shares of online logistics services provider Gogox Holdings Ltd. (2246.HK) at an average price of HK$0.3516 on Feb. 2, lowering its stake from 5.74% to 4.88%, according to a new Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing.

Looking up: The sale dropped Alibaba’s Gogox stake below the 5% threshold that requires future disclosure of any changes in its holdings, meaning it won’t need to report any further sales.

Take Note: Alibaba has cut its stake in Gogox eight times in the three months, indicating it may intend to sell down most or all of the position.

Digging Deeper: Gogox was founded in 2013 as a logistics services provider in Hong Kong, and expanded its business to the Chinese Mainland, Taiwan, India, Singapore and Korea in 2016. It attained unicorn status when its original GoGoVan service merged with 58 Freight in August 2017 at a valuation of $1 billion. The company changed its name to Gogox the next year, covering more than 340 cities with a network of more than 5.2 million drivers. It listed in Hong Kong in June 2022. But its shares have lost more than 98% of their value since the listing, as the company said before the IPO that it would continue losing money for the near future.

Market Reaction: Gogox shares initially rose 2.8% on Wednesday, but later gave back all of those gains and closed unchanged at HK$0.36 by the midday break. The stock currently trades near the lower end of its 52-week range.

Translation by A. Au

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