Alibaba Increases Stake in E-Commerce Platform Lazada
June 28 2017 - 5:10AM
Business Wire
Alibaba doubling down in Southeast
Asia
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) announced today that
it will invest approximately USD1 billion to increase its stake in
Lazada Group, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia,
from 51% to approximately 83%. This transaction demonstrates the
continued success of Lazada’s business, Alibaba’s confidence in the
growth potential of the Southeast Asian markets and its commitment
to the region as part of its global strategy.
Alibaba will purchase the shares of certain Lazada shareholders
at an implied valuation of USD3.15 billion for the company,
reflecting a significant increase in the value of Lazada since
Alibaba first acquired its majority stake in April 2016. The
transaction will increase Alibaba’s total investment in Lazada to
over USD2 billion. Lazada will continue to operate under the same
brand following this investment.
Alibaba’s investment in and collaboration with Lazada have been
an important part of expanding Alibaba’s global footprint,
providing it with unrivalled access to consumers in Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. With
only 3% of the region’s total retail sales conducted online,
Southeast Asia is expected to offer tremendous growth
potential.
With Alibaba’s scale, e-commerce know-how and technology
expertise supporting the execution of Lazada’s management team, the
two businesses have successfully developed a vibrant e-commerce
gateway, giving brands and sellers access to the 560 million
consumers in the region. The cooperation has also enabled Lazada to
invest further in the marketplace, technology, payments and
logistics, greatly enhancing its services and providing an
unparalleled consumer experience for online shoppers, as well as
critical support for the region’s merchants, many of whom are small
businesses.
“As a market leader, Lazada has demonstrated its ability to
execute and further lead the region in products and services with
the best consumer experience in Southeast Asia while growing a
strong ecosystem that supports small businesses going online,” said
Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group. “The e-commerce markets in the
region are still relatively untapped, and we see a very positive
upward trajectory ahead of us. We will continue to put our
resources to work in Southeast Asia through Lazada to capture these
growth opportunities,” he added.
Maximilian Bittner, CEO of Lazada Group, said, “I couldn’t be
more excited to deepen our relationship with Alibaba. With their
support, we will continue to empower brands and sellers to offer a
wide selection of unique assortment to consumers across Southeast
Asia while delivering an exceptional customer experience backed by
our best-in-class logistics network.”
During the past 12 months, both Lazada and Alibaba worked on a
number of initiatives to advance e-commerce in Southeast Asia,
endeavoring to lower barriers and facilitate borderless commerce.
These initiatives include the establishment of an e-fulfillment
center in Malaysia which forms part of Alibaba’s Electronic World
Trading Platform (eWTP) strategy, advancing “Thailand 4.0”, and
launching Taobao Collection in Singapore and Malaysia allowing
local customers to shop for high quality products from China.
Morgan Stanley Asia Limited acted as exclusive financial adviser
for the transaction.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business
anywhere. The company aims to build the future infrastructure of
commerce. It envisions that its customers will meet, work and live
at Alibaba, and that it will be a company that lasts at least 102
years.
About Lazada Group
Lazada is the number one online shopping & selling
destination in Southeast Asia – present in Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Lazada helps more
than 100,000 local and international sellers as well as 2,500
brands serve the 560 million consumers in the region through its
marketplace platform, supported by a wide range of tailored
marketing, data, and service solutions. Lazada offers an excellent
customer experience through a wide network of logistics partners
and its own first and last mile delivery arm.
Safe Harbor Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
“will,” “expect,” “future,” “continue,” “strategy” and similar
statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statement. Further information regarding these and other risks is
included in Alibaba’s filings with the SEC. All information
provided in this press release is as of the date of this press
release and is based on assumptions that Alibaba believes to be
reasonable as of this date, and Alibaba does not undertake any
obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as
required under applicable law.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170628005543/en/
Alibaba GroupRico Ngai, +852 9725
9600rico.ngai@alibaba-inc.comorLazada GroupWilliam Gaultier, +65
8459 5766william.gaultier@lazada.com
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