Alibaba Invests $378.5 Million Into Its Southeast Asia Arm Lazada

Southeast Asia e-commerce website Lazada has received a $378.5 million injection from issuing new shares to its parent company Alibaba Singapore, according to DealStreetAsia, which reported on Monday that it reviewed the firm’s regulatory filing. DealStreetAsia said the investment is the largest since Alibaba’s $1.3 billion investment in the firm in June 2020.

Alibaba has recently made plans to expand Lazada to Europe in order to diversify its growth as competition has heated up in China, according to Reuters. Alibaba already has a presence in Europe through AliExpress, which does cross-border sales from China.

Lazada, which is unlisted, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the reported injection from issuance of new shares.

The firm recorded a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $21 billion and 159 million users in the 12 months that ended September 2021. It lags larger rival Shopee owned by the Sea Group, which recorded a $62.5 billion GMV last year.

Lazada, which has recently opened a new headquarters in Singapore, has operations in six countries in Southeast Asia. Shopee operates in 13 countries including Poland and Spain. Shopee was in France, but exited one month after opening there.

Alibaba acquired 51% of Lazada for $1 billion in 2016 and later increased its stake to 83% by investing another $1 billion. Alibaba aims to increase Lazada’s GMV to $100 billion GMV and double its number of customers to 300 million users in 2030.