Alibaba to invest RM4.5 bln more in Lazada to speed drive
ALIBABA will invest another US$ 1 billion ( RM4.5 billion) to raise its stake in online mall Lazada Group to 83 per cent, securing control of a fast-growing startup at the vanguard of its Southeast Asian expansion.
The Chinese e- commerce leader is buying out most other backers in a deal that values the Singapore-based startup at US$ 3.15 billion, Lazada CEO Maximilian Bittner said, with management and Temasek Holdings remaining as the only other investors. Lazada’s previously disclosed backers include British supermarket chain Tesco and Investment AB Kinnevik.
Alibaba took control of Lazada last year from Rocket Internet in a US$ 1 billion deal – its largest overseas move to date. The company Bittner started in 2012 is now pivotal to quickening the Chinese online retailer’s forays abroad, fulfilling billionaire co-founder Jack Ma’s ambitions of becoming a truly global business.
Lazada’s home turf is shaping up to be the next battleground for Alibaba and main Chinese rival JD.com Inc., and Amazon down the road. While still lacking the transport and payments infrastructure crucial to the widespread adoption of ecommerce, the region has become the world’s fastest- growing internet arena, with a populace of more than 600 million getting more comfortable with online shopping and payments.
“Obviously this allows Alibaba to expand its global footprint, giving them unrivalled access to users,” Bittner said in an interview. “E- commerce penetration in Southeast Asia is only roughly three per cent, so the partnership is a great step change.”
Amazon hasn’t yet voiced its intentions for Southeast Asia, but the industry expectation is that its constant quest for growth will lead it there as early as this year.
Now that Alibaba’s established its dominance of China and Amazon has taken the lead in the US, both are looking to make their mark overseas. JD,
Obviously this allows Alibaba to expand its global footprint, giving them unrivalled access to users...E-commerce penetration in Southeast Asia is only roughly three per cent, so the partnership is a great step change.
whose preference for building its own distribution more closely mirrors Amazon’s, is also said to be in talks to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Indonesian online marketplace Tokopedia.
Alibaba – which despite its sheer scale still derives most of its revenue from China – has been the most aggressive thus far.
It’s amassing a regional presence in anticipation of Amazon’s eventual entry, starting with 51 per cent owned Lazada. Ma traveled to Kuala Lumpur in March to declare Malaysia its first logistics hub outside of China, a centralised warehousing and distribution launchpad for the region.
Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous nation, is considered among the most promising markets in the region.
The country draws comparisons with China a decade ago, with its lack of retail infrastructure, an exploding mobile-user base, and a growing middle- class craving leisure and quality goods, which underpinned the rise of both.
Lazada itself covers six countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – and runs about a dozen warehouses and scores of distribution centres from which it conveys goods directly to buyers.
The company is competing with well-funded rivals from MatahariMall to Sea Ltd., but Bittner said Lazada can count on Alibaba’s expertise.
This year, the two introduced Alibaba’s Taobao online bazaar to Singapore via a dedicated website. It also helped Lazada create an online loyalty and services programme that offers UberEats and Netflix along with free deliveries from Alibaba’s Taobao and online grocer Redmart.
It was the first time the US companies have jointly created an online rewards programme, Bittner said at the time.
“The e- commerce markets in the region are still relatively untapped, and we see a very positive upward trajectory ahead of us,” Alibaba Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang said in a statement. “We will continue to put our resources to work in Southeast Asia through Lazada to capture these growth opportunities.” – WP-Bloomberg
Maximilian Bittner, Lazada CEO