Alibaba Group $1 billion acquisition of Lazada Group

Overview:

• Chinese online retailer Alibaba Group has acquired Singaporean e-commerce company Lazada Group in a $1 billion deal.
• The purchase is the largest deal ever made by Alibaba abroad.
• Because of the different operating sites for Lazada, the acquisition was subject to the trade laws of 10 different countries, among them the US, where Alibaba's shares are listed on the NYSE.
• Lazada was founded in 2012 by Germany-based Rocket Internet.
• Sullivan & Cromwell (Garth Bray, York Schnorbus) advised Alibaba from offices in China and Germany.
• Dechert (Federico Pappalardo, Kristopher Brown, Markus Bolsinger, Christian Matarese, Jean-Louis Frognet, Jay Alicandri, Olaf Fasshauer) advised Lazada from offices in New York, Luxembourg, and Germany.
• Noerr (Sascha Leske) advised Rocket Internet and other shareholders. 

Kurt Stumpo - Journalist - North America and the Caribbean