Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA-owned Lazada Group is getting ready to enter Europe, after its success in Southeast Asia, to take on rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. AMZN and Zalando SE ZLNDY, reported Bloomberg.
Lazada Group was founded in 2012 and is a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia. The company is present in six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Alibaba acquired a majority stake in Lazada in 2016.
European Dreams: Lazada Group CEO James Dong told Bloomberg that Europe is a very big market, and for most of the European brands, their largest retail partner is Alibaba Group because of their sales in China and in other markets. “We go where the brands want us to go,” Dong said.
Dong took over Alibaba’s most important international business unit in June after heading Lazada’s Thailand and Vietnam operations, the report noted.
Why It Matters: Lazada’s push in Europe would mark a revival in Alibaba’s global ambitions, which have slowed in recent years in the wake of strong competition from Amazon and Tencent Holdings Ltd. TCEHY-backed Sea Ltd, the report said.
Investments: Lazada has been investing in businesses such as Indonesian digital wallet provider DANA, in which it infused a total of $304.5 million, as per the report. The company also led a 750 million ringgit ($168 million) financing in TNG Digital Sdn.
Lazada did not immediately respond to an email seeking comments.
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