Alibaba buys Daraz, expands reach in South Asia including Nepal

Alibaba, the Chinese eCommerce giant has bought all of the shares of another growing south Asian e-commerce site, Daraz. Its parent company Rocket internet issues a press release without disclosing the amount of buyout. Daraz actually started from Pakistan and set its foothold in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Daraz is also the most popular eCommerce website in Nepal. With the buy of Daraz by Alibaba, the online retailing or shopping or eCommerce will boost more in those countries.

Daraz was founded in Pakistan in 2012. It operates online marketplaces in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Daraz has a combined customer base of over 460 million. Among which 60% of which are under the age of 35 in those five South Asian markets. Daraz will continue to operate under the same brand following the transaction, Rocket Internet said.

“The sale of Daraz to Alibaba is another testament to Rocket Internet´s ability to successfully scale and exit market-leading companies”, says Oliver Samwer, CEO of Rocket Internet.

“Leading technology and a strong logistics network have helped to create one of the fastest-growing companies in the region. The acquisition by Alibaba is a tremendous success for the entire team working at Daraz.” Source.

Alibaba will obviously use Daraz to increase their international reach and portfolio expansion. The huge expertise of Jack Ma’s company will obviously help Daraz grow more. As we were hoping of similar eCommerce giants to come to Nepal for the big boom, this buyout lands one of the largest eCommerce group Alibaba in Nepal.