Hou Yi, who founded Freshippo in 2016 as a new retail practice for Alibaba, announced on Monday his decision to step down as chief executive in a surprise move, amid frequent sale rumors overshadowing the supermarket chain. Chief financial officer Yan Xiaolei will take over Hou’s vacancy, a move that has raised suspicions that it is part of asset liquidation, especially after Alibaba chair Joe Tsai told investors that the company is on track to exit traditional physical retail businesses, which he referred to as “non-core focus” for the Taobao owner recently. Chinese tech outlet LatePost, however, reported that Freshippo is still actively seeking to bring in new strategic investors under an approximately $3.7 billion valuation and has approached several potential investors. The grocery unit once sought funds at a valuation of up to $10 billion in early 2022. [LatePost, in Chinese]

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