(Yicai Global) April 6 -- Shares of Shiji Information Technology surged after it said that Ant Group's venture capital unit will invest CNY450 million (USD68.6 million) in the former's retail software unit.

Shiji IT's stock price [SHE: 002153] jumped as much as 10.3 percent to CNY32.98 (USD5) this morning.

Yunxin Venture Capital will buy a 6 percent stake in Sixun Software from Shiji IT for CNY270 million and more from another seller to have 10 percent of the total, the Beijing-based parent said in a statement yesterday. Shiji IT will keep 67.2 percent of the equity after the deal.

The deepening partnership can help Sixun Software to rely on Ant Group's ecosystem and give it a competitive edge in retail digitalization and the Internet of Things to strengthen its positioning, according to the statement.

Founded in 2004, Sixun Software makes applications for retailers. In the first half of 2020, it raked in CNY4.5 million (USD686,541) in net profit. Its operating income was CNY130 million. In 2014, Shiji IT bought a 75 percent stake in it.

The companies have underlying links. Alibaba's Taobao China Software acquired 13 percent of Shiji IT's shares for CNY2.4 billion (USD370 million) in September 2014 to become its second-largest shareholder. The two have cooperated in the fields of hospitality, catering, retail, and payments.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi