China's Alibaba boosts stake in SE Asia online sales
The investment will raise Alibaba's holding in Lazada to 83% from 51% and take its total outlay on the company so far to more than $2 billion.
"The e-commerce markets in the region are still relatively untapped and we see a very positive upward trajectory ahead of us," said Alibaba chief executive Daniel Zhang, estimating only 3% of Southeast Asia's retail sales are conducted online.
Alibaba, founded by China's richest man Jack Ma, is a dominant player in the fast-growing online commerce market as shoppers increasingly shun bricks-and-mortar stores. Earlier this month Alibaba forecast annual revenue growth of 45-49%. That followed an almost doubling in its net profit in the quarter ended March 31, on a 60 percent surge in revenue.
Alibaba's Taobao platform is estimated to hold more than 90% of China's consumer-to-consumer market, while its Tmall platform is believed to handle over half of business-to-consumer transactions.
But its international commerce business accounted for only 10% of revenue in the last quarter.
Source: AFP