Chinese technology giant Alibaba is purchasing Koala for £1.6bn ($2bn).
In brief:
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The companies were widely reported to be in talks, but Caixin Global has just confirmed that Alibaba will complete the purchase in cash.
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The ecommerce site focuses on imported goods, carrying more than 9,000 brands.
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Koala already works with Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao.
What does this mean?
In purchasing Koala, Alibaba is buying a key rival to its cross-border ecommerce platform, Tmall. As such, it will mean ecommerce in China is more consolidated than ever.
