E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and private equity firm Yunfeng Capital bought a majority stake in Hong Kong-listed information provider CITIC 21CN Co Ltd for HK$1.324 billion ($171 million), according to a statement filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late Thursday.

Alibaba and Yunfeng - a firm set up by Alibaba chairman Jack Ma - will hold 38.1 percent and 16.2 percent stakes in the company, respectively, becoming the largest shareholder of CITIC 21CN with a combined 54.3 percent.

Alibaba said in an e-mailed statement that the deal is the foundation for a strategic partnership to jointly drive development of a pharmaceutical information platform, Bloomberg News reported.