(Yicai Global) March 18 -- Alibaba Group Holding's investment entity Hangzhou Ali Venture Capital has gotten rid of its 44 percent stake in state-backed steel trading platform Minmetals E-Commerce after nearly four years of partnership.

Ali Venture Capital sold its stake to E-Commodities Beijing Supply Chain Management on March 12, The Paper reported today, citing corporate information platform Tianyancha. The deal price was not disclosed, nor the reason behind the move.

The investor had joined the metal marketplace's funders in May 2016 by paying CNY317 million (USD45.2 million) in cash. That was about half a year after Minmetals Development, the Beijing-based parent of the target firm, had hinted about cooperation. Already then, the parent warned about intense competition in the industrial sector.

Minmetals E-Commerce was founded in May 2012 to share information more efficiently to trade metals.

Editor: Emmi Laine