Alibaba to buy controlling stake in Lazada for about 1 billion dollar

Alibaba would invest about $500 million in newly issued Lazada shares and acquire shares from shareholders of the company for a total of about $1 billion.

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Tuesday it agreed to buy a controlling stake in online retailer Lazada for about 1 billion dollar to expand its platform into Southeast Asia.

A logo of Alibaba Group is pictured at its headquarters in Hangzhou, China. (Reuters File Photo)

Alibaba would invest about $500 million in newly issued Lazada shares and acquire shares from shareholders of the company for a total of about $1 billion.

Lazada operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. In a separate announcement, Britain’s biggest supermarket operator Tesco Plc said it agreed to sell an 8.6% stake in Lazada to Alibaba for $129 million.