Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA; HKEX: 9988) is reportedly in talks to invest USD 300 million in Farfetch, a luxury fashion retailer based in London, said The Information.
The two parties are planning to set up a joined company in China after the deal, the report said. Alibaba owns Taobao and Tmall, the two biggest Chinese online marketplaces by sales volume.
Notably, Alibaba’s domestic rival JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) had formed a partnership with Farfetch as early as June 2017 injecting USD 397 million of capital, after which JD.com became one of the largest shareholders of the e-commerce site and founder and CEO Richard Liu joined the Farfetch board.
Social media and gaming tycoon Tencent (HKG: 0700), the biggest investor of JD.com, is also on the list of Farfetch investors. Tencent runs WeChat which allows shops to operate through mini-programs to reach its 1.1 billion users online.
China increasingly becomes a significant market for luxury brands. As COVID-19 restricts international travel, online channels are becoming a major choice for customers who seek foreign luxury products in this year’s “Double 11” shopping festival.
Read this: TECH PANO | China’s online second-hand luxury sector boosted by slow economic recovery
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.