Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is nearing a deal to sell its department store business to Youngor Fashion Co. for around $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Chinese tech group could announce the sale of Intime as soon as the coming days, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Alibaba acquired Intime for about $2.6 billion in 2017. It had reached out to several potential buyers earlier this year, Bloomberg News reported in February.

In a shift in strategy under new leadership since last year, Alibaba has been focusing more on core e-commerce operations and its cloud-computing business. Deliberations are ongoing and talks could still drag on longer or fall apart, the people said.

Representatives for Alibaba and Youngor didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Data released Monday showed China’s total retail sales rose the slowest in three months in November, missing even the most bearish forecasts and indicating that domestic demand remains sluggish. Chinese policymakers have made boosting consumption a top priority for next year.