Alibaba Group said 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%.
The transaction will increase Alibaba’s total investment in Lazada to over USD2 billion since the first acquition of its stake in April 2016.
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.
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.
Maximilian Bittner, CEO, Lazada Group
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.
