China tech giant Alibaba Group has entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in South-east Asian e-commerce platform Lazada, it was announced on Tuesday (Apr 12).
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The deal includes an investment of approximately $500 million in newly issued equity capital of Lazada and acquisition of shares from certain shareholders of Lazada. Lazada is now valued at $1.5 billion, according to Kinnevik, one of its investors.
Lazada operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Rocket Internet (which founded Lazada in 2011) offloaded a 9.1 percent stake for $137 million; Tesco sold an 8.6 percent stake for $129 million; and Kinnevik parted with a 3.8 percent stake for $57 million.
Rocket Internet’s remaining fully diluted stake after the transaction and taking into account Alibaba’s investment of new funds is 8,8%.
As China slows, Alibaba is seeking growth opportunities elsewhere.
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Maximilian Bittner, CEO of Lazada, adds: “we are very excited about joining forces with Alibaba and see significant synergies that will drive great benefits to our customers, sellers, brands and the broader eCommerce ecosystem in Southeast Asia”.
