Partnership between Thai retail giant and leading
Chinese e-commerce and fintech companies to reshape Thailand online
retailing and finance landscapes
JD.com, (NASDAQ:JD), China's largest retailer, leading
Chinese fintech company JD Finance, Thailand’s largest retail
conglomerate Central Group, and Provident Capital today announced
an aggregate investment of up to $500 million to establish two
joint ventures in Thailand covering e-commerce and fintech
services, respectively.
Under the terms of the agreement, half of the investment will
come from Central Group, with the remainder coming from JD.com, JD
Finance and Provident Capital, which is also JD.com’s strategic
partner for its Indonesian e-commerce business.
JD.com will provide its extensive expertise in technology,
e-commerce and logistics to the e-commerce joint venture.
Meanwhile, the fintech services joint venture will benefit from JD
Finance’s deep knowledge in the financial technology sector,
including its experience building out easy-to-use fintech services
in developing markets using its artificial intelligence, cloud
computing and other industry-leading technology capabilities.
Across both businesses, Central Group will leverage its immense
retail resources, including its physical store network, which will
serve as key omni-channel and payment locations, its wealth of
brand and merchant relationships, as well as its retail behavior
insights from its hugely popular customer loyalty program, “The 1
Card.” To strengthen the product offering, and to accelerate its
own omni-channel growth, Central Group will open multiple flagship
stores on the e-commerce platform for its department stores and key
retail chains, as well as for select brands owned or operated by
Central Group.
“Thailand’s large population and developed infrastructure,
including strong national logistics networks, give it tremendous
potential for both e-commerce and fintech services,” said Richard
Liu, JD.com’s Chairman and CEO. “Working with Thailand’s strongest
retail conglomerate, with a massive shopping mall and department
store network, gives us a huge competitive advantage as we expand
further into Southeast Asia.”
“JD’s proven track record of successfully building out national
online retail businesses made it the obvious choice to be our
e-commerce partner,” said Tos Chirathivat, Chief Executive Officer
of Central Group. “Thailand’s mobile-driven population, with its
increasing consumer spending power, means that e-commerce is ready
to explode, and this partnership is poised to capture the country’s
consumers as they migrate online. This move marks a key step in
Central Group’s goal to become Thailand’s online retail
leader.”
About JD.com, Inc.
JD.com is both the largest e-commerce company
in China, and the largest Chinese retailer, by revenue. The
company strives to offer consumers the best online shopping
experience. Through its user-friendly website, native mobile apps,
and WeChat and Mobile QQ entry points, JD offers consumers a
superior shopping experience. The company has the largest
fulfillment infrastructure of any e-commerce company in China.
As of June 30, 2017, JD.com operated 7 fulfillment
centers and 335 warehouses covering 2,691 counties and districts
across China, staffed by its own
employees. JD.com is a member of the NASDAQ100 and a
Fortune Global 500 company.
About JD Finance
Established in late 2013, JD Finance is one of China’s leading
fintech companies. The company has 10 major business lines: supply
chain finance, consumer finance, crowdfunding, wealth management,
payments, insurance, securities, rural finance, financial
technology and an international business line. As of June 30,
2017, JD Finance has served more than 500,000 corporate clients and
150 million individual consumers. JD Finance leverages its big data
and industry-leading technology to provide comprehensive and
modularized services to various financial institutions and help the
industry to increase revenues, improve efficiency and reduce costs.
In June 2017, JD Finance spun off from JD.com to become an
independent entity.
About Central Group
Central Group Co., Ltd., a leading business in Thailand and
Southeast Asia with expertise in many sectors, is divided into 9
business groups: department stores, consumer goods, construction
materials, home decoration, electrical appliances, shopping malls
and real estate, stationery, books, online, hotels and resorts,
management and marketing of fashion products, restaurants, and
businesses in Vietnam. The company also proudly owns “Luxury
Collection,” a group of prestigious department stores in Thailand
and Europe.
Central Group is in a state of constant development, expanding
its businesses in both the region and overseas, where it is
recognized at an international level with high trustworthiness and
brand credibility. It has become renowned among both Thais and
foreign tourists, as well as businesspeople in the retail sector in
many regions around the world for more than 70 years. Central Group
has now expanded its business worldwide to more than 3,075
locations both in Thailand and abroad with over 80,000 staff who
have a true service mind.
About Provident Capital
Provident Capital is a privately owned investment firm focused
on Southeast Asia. It has key investments in the internet sector,
telecom towers and gold and copper mining.
CONTACTS:
JD.COM
Investor Relations Ruiyu Li Senior Director of
Investor Relations +86 (10) 8912-6805 IR@JD.com
Media Josh Gartner VP, International Corporate
Affairs Press@JD.com
Central GroupPattra Devahastin Na
AyudhyaGeneral Manager - International
Communicationsdepattra@central.co.th+6691 098 5779
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