SHANGHAI -- Alibaba Group Holding will take a 14% stake in Chinese courier STO Express for 4.6 billion yuan ($685 million), as the country's top e-commerce company looks to strengthen its delivery service in smaller cities and towns.
STO has roughly 20,000 delivery centers nationwide and ranks third in package deliveries by sales in China. Alibaba aims to achieve delivery within 24 hours to all parts of the country.
