Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group will invest $378.5 million in its Southeast Asian retail arm, Lazada, according to a regulatory statement filed with the Singapore Exchange on behalf of the company’s regional headquarters, Lazada Singapore, DealStreet Asia report.
The cash infusion through the issuance of new shares is the largest since Alibaba’s $1.3 billion investment in the company in June 2020, the report said.
The move comes after news broke in April that Lazada is expanding aggressively, seeking not only to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia, but also in Europe, where the company recently opened a logistics center in Belgium. Alibaba already operates in Europe through its AliExpress subsidiary, which connects Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises with international buyers.
Last fiscal year sales were $21 billion
Lazada said 159 million users had a combined merchandise value of $21 billion in the 12 months to September 2021. That lags bigger rival Shopee, owned by Singapore-based internet company Sea Group, which had a combined merchandise value of $62.5 billion last year.
In 2016, Alibaba bought a 51 percent controlling stake in Lazada from the German founder of Berlin-based startup and venture capital firm Rocket Internet Group for $1 billion. Alibaba later increased its stake to 83 percent by investing another $1 billion.
300 million users by 2030
In its outlook, Alibaba aims to increase Lazada’s total merchandise value to $100 billion by 2030 and double its user base to more than 300 million.
Currently, Lazada operates in six countries in Southeast Asia, in addition to Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines in Thailand. Competitor Shopee operates in 14 countries around the world, the same six countries in Southeast Asia as Lazada, as well as Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland and Spain.
Thai royalists seek attention
By the way, Lazada happened to anger the royalist political group in Thailand with an online video ad that some in the military-ruled country saw as an “insult to the monarchy” through certain depictions of members of the royal family. This situation seems to offend some hardline monarchists.
The royalist group rallied in front of Lazada’s offices in central Bangkok on May 6, demanding that the online shopping platform be “responsible” for the controversial video clip uploaded to TikTok and calling for a boycott of the shopping platform.
Lazada didn’t take the matter entirely seriously at first, but later apologized after the royalists said they would “declare war” on Lazada. No further confrontation was reported.
Indonesia Lazada warehouse Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group will invest $378.5 million in its Southeast Asian retail arm Lazada, according to a regulatory statement filed with the Singapore Exchange on behalf of the company’s regional headquarters, Lazada Singapore, DealStreet Asia reported. The cash infusion through the issuance of new shares is the largest since Alibaba’s $1.3 billion investment in the company in June 2020, the report said. The move follows news in April that Lazada is expanding aggressively, not only to bolster its presence in Southeast Asia, but…
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group will invest $378.5 million in its Southeast Asian retail arm, Lazada, according to a regulatory statement filed with the Singapore Exchange on behalf of the company’s regional headquarters, Lazada Singapore, DealStreet Asia report.
The cash infusion through the issuance of new shares is the largest since Alibaba’s $1.3 billion investment in the company in June 2020, the report said.
The move comes after news broke in April that Lazada is expanding aggressively, seeking not only to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia, but also in Europe, where the company recently opened a logistics center in Belgium. Alibaba already operates in Europe through its AliExpress subsidiary, which connects Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises with international buyers.
Last fiscal year sales were $21 billion
Lazada said 159 million users had a combined merchandise value of $21 billion in the 12 months to September 2021. That lags bigger rival Shopee, owned by Singapore-based internet company Sea Group, which had a combined merchandise value of $62.5 billion last year.
In 2016, Alibaba bought a 51 percent controlling stake in Lazada from the German founder of Berlin-based startup and venture capital firm Rocket Internet Group for $1 billion. Alibaba later increased its stake to 83 percent by investing another $1 billion.
300 million users by 2030
In its outlook, Alibaba aims to increase Lazada’s total merchandise value to $100 billion by 2030 and double its user base to more than 300 million.
Currently, Lazada operates in six countries in Southeast Asia, in addition to Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines in Thailand. Competitor Shopee operates in 14 countries around the world, the same six countries in Southeast Asia as Lazada, as well as Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland and Spain.
Thai royalists seek attention
By the way, Lazada happened to anger the royalist political group in Thailand with an online video ad that some in the military-ruled country saw as an “insult to the monarchy” through certain depictions of members of the royal family. This situation seems to offend some hardline monarchists.
The royalist group rallied in front of Lazada’s offices in central Bangkok on May 6, demanding that the online shopping platform be “responsible” for the controversial video clip uploaded to TikTok and calling for a boycott of the shopping platform.
Lazada didn’t take the matter entirely seriously at first, but later apologized after the royalists said they would “declare war” on Lazada. No further confrontation was reported.
