Slaughter and May has represented Alibaba Group in its $2.6 billion (HK $19.8 billion) buyout of Chinese department store and mall operator Intime Retail, which was advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell.

According to Reuters, Intime operates 29 department stores and 17 shopping malls in China, mainly in so-called first- and second-tier cities. The malls could allow Alibaba to give brands a physical presence or act as collection points for online shoppers. In turn, department stores could use Alibaba's data on popular clothes or colors to choose brands or styles, reported Reuters.

The acquisition comes as “China's total retail sector is a $4.5 trillion economy and is growing at 10.7 percent a year,” said Daniel Zhang, Alibaba Group’s chief executive officer, in a statement

Hong Kong-based partner Paul Chow (Hong Kong) represented Davis Polk & Wardwell.