Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. recently agreed to what could be a major investment in website ShopRunner Inc., a U.S.-based competitor to Amazon.com Inc.AMZN -0.58% in offering two-day shipping, according to people familiar with the deal.
Along with the investment, Alibaba executive vice chairman Joe Tsai, will join ShopRunner’s board of directors, said the people, who asked not to be named because the deal hasn’t yet been announced. ShopRunner, with headquarters in San Mateo, Calif., offers unlimited two-day delivery from nearly 80 retailers including Toys “R” Us Inc. and RadioShack Corp.RSH +1.75%
For Alibaba, it marks at least the second investment in a U.S. e-commerce company in recent months. In June, Alibaba invested in Fanatics Inc., which like ShopRunner is owned by Kynetic LLC, as part of a $170 million funding round that valued the sports apparel retailer at $3.1 billion.
Discussions with ShopRunner recently centered around an investment of about $70 million, said a person familiar with the deal, though the exact terms couldn’t be learned.
Alibaba is eyeing an initial public offering that, analysts say, could value the company at $70 billion, making it among the world’s largest IPOs.
An Alibaba spokesman declined to comment.