Alibaba Announces $1 Billion In Southeast Asia e-Commerce Platform To 'Support Our Ecosystem Expansion

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA announced on Tuesday it has invested $1 billion to acquire a controlling stake of Lazada, an eCommerce platform based in Southeast Asia.

Alibaba will pay approximately $500 million in newly issued equity capital of Lazaada and acquisition of shares from some of its shareholders. The transaction is expected to help brands and distributors that already operate on Alibaba's platform to better access the Southeast Asia consumer market.

Lazada operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

"Globalization is a critical strategy for the growth of Alibaba Group today and well into the future," said Michael Evans, President of Alibaba. "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."

Max Bittner, CEO of Lazada Group added, "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."