(Yicai Global) July 14 -- Hillhouse Capital Group has sold 4.8 million shares in slowly growing Chinese snack retailer Bestore as part of the renowned venture capital firm's earlier announced plan.

Hillhouse's shareholding fell to about 9.1 percent from the earlier 10.3 percent through the transfer, the Wuhan-based retailer said in a statement yesterday, without disclosing the sale price.

The move was expected. In February, Bestore said that three institutions under the VC firm plan to reduce their holdings by up to 24.1 million shares, or 6 percent of the food company's total share capital, from March 4 to Aug. 26.

The investor that focuses on Asian startups purchased 46.8 million shares in the retailer of dried seeds and vegetables for more than CNY800 million (USD123.5 million) in September 2017.

Waning Performance

Bestore’s share price has kept falling since the renowned early investor in Zoom Video Communications and Tencent Holding revealed its intentions to offload more than half of its stake in the firm.

Bestore's stock price [SHA:603719] fell as much as 3.2 percent to CNY38.48 (USD5.90) intraday. The shares have declined by more than 50 percent in value in a year.

Despite the rising snack sector, Bestore's business growth has slowed. In the first quarter, it reported a 16 percent increase in net profit to CNY102 million, much lower than in 2019. In the full year of 2020, its net profit climbed just 26 percent while in 2018, the figure had soared more than six times.

Founded in August 2006, Bestore runs more than 2,000 outlets in 13 Chinese provinces.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi