MANILA—Conglomerate Ayala Corp. has acquire a 43.3-percent ownership stake in BF Jade E-Service Philippines, the owner and operator of the country’s largest online fashion platform Zalora Philippines.
This acquisition forms part of Ayala’s strategy to capture the growing opportunities in e-commerce amid a robust domestic consumer market and an increasingly digital environment.
“This investment demonstrates how we, at Ayala, look at innovation and growth opportunities. We see the potential of e-commerce in the country, and believe that the Ayala group can benefit and add tremendous value to Zalora,” said Ayala Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.
“With the rising demands of the communities that we serve, we believe new business models such as Zalora’s can provide alternative solutions and services that are complementary to our traditional brick and mortar operations,” Zobel de Ayala said.
Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), BPI Capital Corporation and Kickstart Ventures Inc. also acquired minority ownership stakes in BF-Jade. Through this transaction, ALI will own 1.91 percent of Zalora Philippines.
BPI Capital Corp. and Kickstart Ventures, Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of BPI and Globe Telecom Inc., respectively.
“The closing of the transaction is subject to fulfillment of certain conditions precedent, including obtaining the approval or deemed approval of the Philippine Competition Commission,” the conglomerate told the local bourse.
Zalora Philippines was co-founded in 2012 as part of the global network of the Zalora Group, which is 100-percent owned by the Global Fashion Group (GFG), the world’s largest online fashion platform for emerging markets.
Zalora currently offers over 120,000 products across over 1,000 brands in accessories, beauty, clothing, shoes, and sports.
“We are confident that together, we are in a unique position strengthen the leadership of Zalora Philippines, as we deliver the best online fashion shopping experience to Filipino consumers across the archipelago,” Global Fashion Group CEO Romain Voog said.