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Alibaba to invest US$1 billion in Lazada
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A woman poses in front of a booth of China-based Alibaba Group. (Shutterstock/Pieter Beens)
C
hinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is planning to raise its stake in online mall Lazada to 83 percent from 51 percent at present in a bid to strengthen its foothold in Southeast Asia.
To do so, Alibaba plans to invest US$1 billion, which would bring its total investment in Lazada to $2 billion.
The investment from Alibaba shows its optimism about online retail in Southeast Asia. Based on an analysis by Google and Temasek Holdings last year, the region’s internet economy was predicted to grow to $200 billion by 2025.
"The e-commerce markets in the region are still relatively untapped, and we see a very positive upward trajectory ahead of us," Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba, said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.
The Chinese e-commerce leader said it will purchase shares from certain Lazada shareholders at an implied valuation of $3.15 billion.
Founded in 2012, the Singapore-based startup Lazada operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Lazada had about 23 million active buyers as of March 2017. (win/bbn)
