China's Alibaba is set to cast its considerable influence over Southeast Asian's online shopping channels after sealing a deal to buy a controlling stake in Singapore-based Lazada.
Alibaba said on Tuesday that it agreed to buy $500 million of newly issued shares from the online department store founded four years ago by German group Rocket Internet plus a further $500 million from existing shareholders.
Its acquisition of Lazada is understood to be the culmination of around six months of searching across Southeast Asia for a suitably complementary business
However, Lazada is also an obvious acquisition candidate for cash-rich Alibaba. Dubbed by some...
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