Online retailer giant Alibaba buys Daraz.pk for $150 millions

[Aawish]

Islamabad (Monitoring Desk): Chinese online retail giant Alibaba has bought Pakistan’s leading online retailer Daraz.pk for $150 million.

E-commerce is booming in Pakistan and country has a lot of potential in online retailing. Alibaba the world famous online retailer has recently signed MoU with the ministry of Science and Technology. Currently Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba worth almost $380 billion in the market.

After the investment of Alibaba in Pakistan’s e-commerce, the investment will reach $400 million which is currently $120 million. Alibaba Chief Executive Jack Ma showed a great interest in Pakistan’s online market. Jack Ma has met Pakistani authorities on the sidelines of World Economic Forum and vowed to invest in the booming sector of Pakistani online market.

http://dailyaftab.pk/2018/01/02/online-retailer-giant-buys-daraz/

 

[Aawish]

Daraz.pk Sold to e-commerce giant Alibaba group for Millions of Dollars

Pakistan’s IT industry has massive growth potential and even greater investment prospects. In light of this, e-commerce giant Alibaba, one of the world’s largest online retailers, with a total market value of $380 billion, has recently signed a MoU with our Ministry of Commerce. This development is aimed at promoting exports from SMEs and may potentially lead to an investment of approximately $400 million in Pakistan’s e-commerce sector – investment at the moment stands at well north of $120 million. Furthermore, this agreement entails the provision of training for SMEs with respect to using e-commerce platforms, along with promoting mobile financial services and online payment services. On the face of it, Alibaba’s entry seems full of benefits. However, it would be wise to consider both the potential benefits, as well as the drawbacks which may arise as a result of the company’s entry into Pakistan.

Alibaba’s partnerships with local vendors could also boost the economy. Good examples here are Careem and Uber; owing to their success, many local start-ups have done well – many have worked on the same model and brought motorbikes and rickshaws to similar businesses. Thanks to these developments, Pakistan’s GDP grew by 5.3% – a 10-year high, and according to Ishaq Dar, the former Federal Finance Minister, for the first time the size of the economy surpassed $300 billion.

Although there are many benefits attached to Alibaba’s entry, a cost-benefit analysis is required to better understand its implications. There are always pros and cons to any new entrant in a market and it will only be after Alibaba starts operations in Pakistan, that we will be able to assess their performance and impact on Pakistan’s economy. As of now, the entrance of Alibaba seems positive, promising a major boost to the economy. Given that the future is all about the internet and technology, the e-commerce industry can only grow in the future. According to an insider source, the e-commerce industry will surpass the one billion dollar mark by 2020 in Pakistan. So let’s keep our fingers crossed and our hopes high.

As for now, Alibaba has bought Daraz.pk from Rocket Internet for what is rumoured to be $150 million ( Rs 1500 crores) marking almost the largest buyout of a Pakistani startup in history. With respect to Alibaba’s interest in Pakistan, there are no two opinions about it: Alibaba executives have visited Pakistan, Jack Ma has met with Pakistani government officials on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, and there are public statements from the company and its celebrity chairman about being interested in investing in Pakistan.

It is also clear that Alibaba wants to get into the e-commerce space in Pakistan, as evidenced by the persistent rumor mill that Daraz.pk is an acquisition target. Of course, that makes sense. Daraz.pk is by far the largest e-commerce player in Pakistan and, at least on the surface, makes for an attractive acquisition target, both in terms of its market position as well as the quality of its personnel and technology. How much does Daraz.pk make in revenue? That is hard to ascertain since the company does not release financial information. It did, however, state that it made Rs1 billion during its Black Friday sale in November 2016. Blockbuster sales events such as these tend to make up anywhere between 20% and 25% of an e-commerce company’s annual revenues, so a ballpark estimate of Daraz.pk’s revenue would put them around Rs4-5 billion. If $150 million is indeed the selling price, that would imply that Daraz.pk is being sold at around 3 to 3.75 times its annual revenues. That is not surprising, given that it is a fast-growing e-commerce company and may well be a fair price.

Dreams.pk Taking Charge of Pakistani Consumers in Online Shopping
It is expected that Pakistan's first online leasing website Dreams.pk will be taking charge of the Pakistani consumers after Alibaba taking over daraz.pk. This website is offering different sorts of products both on cash as well as on lease for the convenience of their customers.


https://comparebox.pk/blog/Daraz.pk-Sold-to-e-commerce-giant-Alibaba-group-for-Millions-of-Dollars

 

[Zibago]

Possibilities of more goodies at even better prices

 

[Spring Onion]

ohhh really ???

 

[Areesh]

Is it confirmed? Nothing on any credible news source.

 

[Zibago]

ohhh really ???

Kind of sad that a Pakistani startup no longer exists but also happy that consumers will have access to more products

 

[Spring Onion]

Kind of sad that a Pakistani startup no longer exists but also happy that consumers will have access to more products

am not sad. I bought few things from sellers on Daraz and those behind daraz were already earning handsomely. Many frauds too but it is good now we have access to more goods. I wish if deliveries directly from China takes less time. 4 weeks is damn too long sometimes

 

[Maxpane]

good news

 

[sparten]

Damn. I wanted more Pakistani startups to prosper.

 

[Sugarcane]

Only thing I purchased from daraz was 2 underwear and they delivered in two shipments in 7 days. I hope things will improve.

 

[YeBeWarned]

i bought a monopoly from Daraz, it was damage and i returned it, now its been 1.5 months since i am waiting for my 2300 Refund .. Don't buy anything from Shitty Daraz, use Homeshopping instead .

 

[Thanatos]

This is a huge news, if its true. One of those news that have massive impact on economy.

 

[ziaulislam]

sad news

 

[raahaat7]

sad news

Nothng sad abwt it. We may even see a pakistani alibaba in a few yrs as a consequence to this deal. Trust the pakistani enterpreneur spirit.

 

[darksider]

No, Alibaba Hasn’t Acquired Daraz.pk
A few days ago, a local website published an article about Daraz.pk being acquired by Alibaba. They even sponsored it on Facebook to increase reach.

A combination of the news being plausible, considering months of speculation, and excitement (or dismay depending on your point of view), meant that everyone started sharing the information.

In the last day, tons of no-name sites have also started regurgitating the same news and are peddling it as truth.

However, we’d like to set the record straight. According to our sources, Daraz definitely hasn’t been acquired by Alibaba – yet.

We can confirm that talks are taking place between Alibaba Group, Telenor Bank and Daraz. Alibaba officials have been regularly visiting Pakistan over the last few months and are in advanced stages of discussion with a few key people but there is no confirmed deal yet.

Alibaba has also been in touch with the government and has promised as much as $400 million investment in Pakistan. However, the ecommerce giant hasn’t stated anything about either the nature of this investment or its time frame.


https://propakistani.pk/2018/01/04/no-alibaba-hasnt-acquired-daraz-pk/