Chinese online retailer LightInTheBox will acquire Singaporean e-commerce platform Ezbuy for approximately US$86 million, subject to some closing conditions. Ezbuy, which has more than 3 million customers in Southeast Asia and Pakistan, has grown from a middleman service linking international consumers and Chinese e-retailers to become a more traditional online retailer in its own right. It secured US$17.6 million earlier this year, predominantly from Chinese investors.
LightInTheBox CEO Zhiping Qi said: “This transaction is part of our larger plan to build our business-to-consumer cross-border ecommerce out to scale globally,” citing Ezbuy’s supply chain management as potentially supporting the firm’s emerging markets strategy.