Alibaba Pictures, the entertainment division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, would invest 100 million Yuan (US$15 million) to secure an 80 percent stake in Hangzhou Cinema Company. The move would help Alibaba Pictures to further expand its reach in China's lucrative entertainment market.

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According to South China Morning Post, in a filing earlier this week, Alibaba Pictures said it will initially acquire 61 percent of Hangzhou Xingji by paying 39 million Yuan ($5.8 million) to the company's main shareholder, Hangzhou Kunwei. This would be followed by a further investment of 61 million Yuan ($9.1 million), taking Alibaba Pictures stake in the company to 80 percent.              

Hangzhou Xingji operates 11 Hangzhou Star Cinema across China, including one 4D cinema and one China Film Giant Screen (CFGS) theater. Hangzhou Xingji's profit increased by a whopping 416 percent to more than 563,000 Yuan ($84,550) after taxes last year, the company said in a statement.

This year Alibaba Pictures has been in overdrive mode to consolidate its position in China's burgeoning entertainment industry. In May, the company made an investment of 1 billion Yuan ($150 million in convertible bonds issued by Dadi Cinema Construction, which owns nearly 300 cinema halls across China.

Alibaba Pictures also aims to construct an integrated online-to-offline platform that will entice Chinese consumers to buy movie tickets on their smartphones. The platform would seek to seamlessly combine Alibaba's e-commerce capabilities with traditionally offline entertainment and cinema circuit.

Alibaba Pictures' biggest competitor in the market is Chinese property conglomerate Dalian Wanda, which is seeking to capture a sizeable market share in China's fast-growing entertainment market. Although the company has not made any big deal in China, it has sealed quite some major deals in the US market.

The company recently sealed two billion-dollar film-related deals in the US. Earlier this year, Dalian Wanda splashed US$3.5 billion to gain a controlling stake in US film studio Legendary Entertainment.

TagsAlibaba pictures, Hangzhou Xingji, Alibaba Group, china