Alibaba is to invest an additional US$2bn in e-commerce company Lazada Group to accelerate the growth plans of Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce platform.
The new funding brings Alibaba’s total investment sum to US$4bn. Alibaba acquired control of Lazada in 2016 with an investment of US$1bn and further increased its stake to 83% with another US$1bn investment in 2017.
The investment is expected to deepen Lazada’s integration into Alibaba’s operation, which will enable Lazada to tap into Alibaba’s resources to further serve consumers and empower merchants in Southeast Asia in innovative ways.
The investment underlines Alibaba’s commitment to provide a broad platform for local talent in Southeast Asia to contribute to the development of the digital economy in their home countries.
Lucy Peng, current Lazada CEO, will assume the additional role of chief executive officer to drive Lazada’s growth strategies. Commenting on the fresh investment, she said, “With a young population, high mobile penetration and just 3% of the region’s retail sales currently conducted online, we feel very confident to double down on Southeast Asia. Lazada is well-positioned for the next phase of development of Internet-enabled commerce in this region, and we are excited about the incredible opportunities for super-charged growth.
“Lazada has been an extremely entrepreneurial organization led by Max Bittner (Lazada’s founder). It has achieved rapid growth over the years and created a tremendous amount of shareholder value under Max’s leadership. I want to thank Max for giving Alibaba the opportunity to continue its success and develop the company from solid foundations into the next phase of growth.”
Bittner added, “Alibaba’s new commitment of capital and resources is good for Lazada and good for the Southeast Asia e-commerce market. I am excited about the future for Lazada and Lazadians and I look forward to continuing to contribute to the success of the business by helping Lucy and Alibaba’s management.”
Lazada is the top e-commerce platform operating in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
March 20, 2018
