Raksasa e-commerce Tiongkok Alibaba secara resmi mengumumkan telah mengakuisisi layanan mayoritas saham marketplace terbesar di Asia Tenggara Lazada dengan nilai total sebesar $1 miliar. Valuasi Lazada secara total adalah $1.5 miliar. Lazada kini beroperasi di enam negara Asia Tenggara.

Alibaba menyebutkan akuisisi ini terdiri dari investasi baru senilai $500 juta dan pembelian saham, dari pemilik saham yang sudah ada, sebesar sisanya. Investor lama Lazada, total ada 9 investor, menjual sebagian sahamnya, dengan Rocket Internet, Kinnevik, dan Tesco masing-masing masih memiliki 8,8%, 3,6%, dan 8,3% saham pasca akuisisi.

Rocket Internet menyebutkan penjualan sahamnya di Lazada menghasilkan return 15 kali lipat dibanding total investasinya di layanan marketplace yang didirikan tahun 2012 ini.

Presiden Alibaba Michael Evans dalam rilis persnya mengatakan:

“Globalization is a critical strategy for the growth of Alibaba Group today and well into the future. With the investment in Lazada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base outside China, a proven management team and a solid foundation for future growth in one of the most promising regions for eCommerce globally. This investment is consistent with our strategy of connecting brands, distributors and consumers wherever they are and support our ecosystem expansion in Southeast Asia to better serve our customers.”

CEO Lazada Group Max Bittner menambahkan:

“We are very excited about joining forces with Alibaba and see significant synergies that will drive great benefits to our customers in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is an attractive mobile-driven consumer market that is highly fragmented and diverse with significant barriers to entry and a nascent modern retail sector that has large headroom for growth. The transaction will help us to accelerate our goal to provide the 560 million consumers in the region access to the broadest and most unique assortment of products. Furthermore, leveraging Alibaba’s unique knowhow and technology will allow us to rapidly improve our services and provide an even more effortless shopping and selling experience.”

Alibaba juga telah mendapatkan hak untuk mengambil alih sisa saham Lazada, yang belum diakuisisinya, 12 hingga 18 bulan setelah transaksi berlangsung.