P+P advises JP Morgan on sale of shares in Lazada to Alibaba
The Chinese online sales services provider Alibaba has acquired shares in the online marketplace Lazada, which has investors from several continents. Alibaba is also investing USD 500m as a capital increase. The total investment is more than USD 1b and is, according to Thomson Reuters, the largest acquisition Jack Ma's company has made up to this point.
Lazada will thereby be valued at over USD 2b. The e-commerce platform, founded in 2012 by the German venture capital company Rocket Internet, operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It underwent corporate restructuring last summer, when the Luxembourg holding company Lazada bundled the interests of more than 20 investors.
Alibaba initially acquired 50% of each investor's shares and made respective agreements with each to acquire the remaining shares within the next 12 to 18 months. Nevertheless, the Chinese internet company already has a controlling majority in Lazada through the capital increase and former shares.
P+P Pöllath + Partners advised investor JP Morgan on the sale of its shares with the following team:
- Dr. Michael Inhester (partner, M&A/PE, Munich)
- Eva-Juliane Stark (associate, M&A/PE, Berlin)
- Adalbert Makos (associate, M&A/PE, Munich)
