Alibaba to Acquire Full Ownership of China Online Delivery Platform Ele.me
April 01 2018 - 11:13PM
Business Wire
Acquisition will leverage Ele.me’s delivery
force to boost Alibaba’s New Retail initiative in local
services
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA, “Alibaba”) announced
today that the company will acquire all outstanding shares that it
does not already own in Ele.me, a leading online delivery and local
services platform in China, in a transaction that implies the
enterprise value of Ele.me at US$9.5 billion. Alibaba and its
affiliate Ant Small and Micro Financial Services Group Co., Ltd.
currently own approximately 43% of the outstanding voting shares of
Ele.me.
This acquisition will deepen Ele.me’s integration into Alibaba’s
ecosystem and advance Alibaba’s New Retail strategy to provide a
seamless online and offline consumer experience in the local
services sector.
Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, said, “We are excited for
Ele.me to become a part of the Alibaba ecosystem. Under the
leadership of its founder and management team, Ele.me has achieved
leading market share in China’s online food delivery and local
services sector. Our shared belief that New Retail will create more
value for customers and merchants has brought us together. Looking
forward, Ele.me can leverage Alibaba’s infrastructure in commerce
and find new synergies with Alibaba’s diverse businesses to add
further momentum to the New Retail initiative.”
Ele.me’s fast local delivery service will build on its core
expertise in food delivery to provide consumers with a wider range
of products and services on-demand. This expansion of offerings
will allow Ele.me to efficiently utilize its large delivery force
that currently fulfills orders in cities across China.
Ele.me also complements Koubei, Alibaba’s affiliated local
services platform and provides extended synergies. By combining
Ele.me’s online home delivery services with Koubei’s consumer
acquisition and engagement capability for a range of restaurants
and service establishments, Alibaba will be able to offer an
integrated experience to consumers both online and offline.
Zhang Xuhao, founder of Ele.me, said, “This acquisition shows
that we have built Ele.me into one of China’s most valuable
internet businesses. Our customers, merchants and partners will
benefit from our further integration into the Alibaba family. We
share the same strategic vision that New Retail has a bright future
and being part of Alibaba’s ecosystem will take Ele.me’s growth to
a new level.”
Ele.me will continue to operate in its own brand and work
closely with its existing partners and merchants. Alibaba will lend
its full support to Ele.me including access to its New Retail
infrastructure, product offerings and technology expertise.
Upon completion of the acquisition, Zhang Xuhao will become
Chairman of Ele.me and special advisor to Alibaba’s CEO on New
Retail strategy. Wang Lei, Vice President of Alibaba Group, will
become chief executive of Ele.me. Wang joined Alibaba in 2003 and
has held a number of senior positions in Alibaba’s consumer
e-commerce, B2B, O2O service and healthcare businesses.
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.
Safe Harbor Statements
This announcement 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,” “expects,” “aim,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,”
“plans,” “believes,” “may,” “estimates,” “potential,” “continue,”
“ongoing,” “goal”, “targets,” “guidance”, “commits” and similar
statements. Among other things, statements that are not historical
facts, including statements about Alibaba’s investment plans, the
completion of the transaction and the strategic goals of the
investment, are or contain forward-looking 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, including but not limited to the possibility that the
various closing conditions for the transaction may not be satisfied
or waived or that the intended strategic goals may not be achieved.
All information contained in this announcement is as of the date of
this announcement and are based on assumptions that Alibaba
believes to be reasonable as of this date. You should not rely upon
these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.
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: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180401005041/en/
Alibaba Group Holding LimitedAsiaKatie Lee, +852 9728
0979k.lee@alibaba-inc.comorU.S.Robert H. Christie, +1
917-860-9410bob.christie@alibaba-inc.com
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