SUMMARY

In one day, Alibaba announced two investments, totaling at least US$300 million, that enable the company to accomplish two separate but significant goals: to move up the value chain to integrate luxury products and flash sales into its Tmall.com site and to continue its geographic expansion by increasing its investment in SingPost, the leading mail-delivery company in Singapore. Alibaba’s investment in SingPost investment will allow Alibaba to grow its reach through a regional logistics company that has been expanding beyond Singapore into other parts of the Asia-Pacific region.

SINGPOST INVESTMENT DETAILS

On July 7, Alibaba also announced three initiatives to increase the level of its cooperation with SingPost, including two investments totaling approximately US$206 million:

1. Alibaba will invest US$68 million (S$92 million) in exchange for a 34% stake in Quantium Solutions International (QSI); SingPost will hold the remaining 66% stake. QSI provides end-to-end logistics and fulfillment services, including warehousing, across 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. QSI will reorganize to become a joint venture of the two companies and will ramp up its e-commerce logistics infrastructure and services, including e-commerce warehousing, last-mile delivery and solutions for end-to-end e-commerce.
2. To align the two companies’ interests better, Alibaba will purchase an additional 5% stake in SingPost for US$139 million (S$187 million), subject to various approvals. This investment follows an earlier, US$249 million investment for a 10.35% stake in SingPost in May 2014, and will bring Alibaba’s total stake to 15.35%.
3. The two companies entered into a joint strategic business-development framework that aims to enhance efficiency and the integration of their e-commerce logistics capabilities.

SingPost is the leading provider of mail, logistics and e-commerce solutions in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region, with operations in more than 10 countries. The company is in the midst of a transformation in which it has been steadily expanding beyond Singapore through its regional platform, QSI, as well as through subsidiaries and partners. SingPost offers its customers fully integrated e-commerce logistics solutions covering freight, customs and regulations management, warehousing and fulfillment, last-mile delivery and returns, in addition to e-commerce web services. The company benefits significantly from its affiliation with growing e-commerce company Alibaba, as mail revenue has declined globally as consumers have adopted e-commerce and digital lifestyles.

SELECTED RECENT ALIBABA INVESTMENTS

Alibaba has publicly announced five recent investments in several areas of retailing, media and technology:

Source: Company reports

Alibaba’s major businesses include:

Source: Company reports