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Alibaba Nears $4 Billion Deal With South Korea’s E-Mart

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Alibaba Nears $4 Billion Deal With South Korea’s E-Mart

Reading time: 2 min

Posted on Dec 26, 2024

Written by Andrea Miliani Tech News Expert
Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Lead Cybersecurity Editor

The Chinese tech giant Alibaba is negotiating a $4 billion deal with South Korea’s largest retailer, E-Mart. Both companies plan a joint venture to better compete in the region’s online retail sector.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

Anonymous sources said Alibaba and E-Mart are at the final stage of a negotiation to create a new entity worth $4 billion.
E-Mart and Alibaba would face strong competitors in South Korea such as Coupang Inc. and Naver Corp and a challenging market.
The companies could make an official announcement soon, after they close the deal.

According to Bloomberg’s exclusive, anonymous sources familiar with the matter have explained that both companies could combine online shopping assets to create a new entity.

The sources have confirmed that the negotiation is at its final stage, and they might make an official announcement by the end of the week.

If the deal closes, Alibaba and E-Mart will face well-established competitors in South Korea like Coupang Inc. and Naver Corp.

They will also have to deal with a challenging market as consumers’ confidence has decreased since the end of the pandemic, and the country has faced political turmoil after the president declared martial law a few days ago.

The new venture aligns with Alibaba’s expansion goals this year. The Chinese giant raised $5 in a multicurrency bond sales deal, one of the biggest in the Asia Pacific. The company has also been developing AI technology, in September it launched 100 open-source AI models and a text-to-video AI tool.

E-Mart has been expanding for the past few years through new acquisitions and organically, but its shares have dropped this year—about 7%—, the company is valued at $1.4 billion at the moment. Alibaba’s shares in Hong Kong, on the other hand, rose around 11% and the company is currently valued at above $200 billion.

Andrea Miliani

Written by: Andrea Miliani

Andrea Miliani is a Tech News Writer at Wizcase. With a strong background in journalism, Andrea covers the most important stories in the tech industry. She researches and writes digestible content with the most relevant information for readers. Andrea has previously covered tech-related stories in other markets and has a keen interest in cybersecurity and generative Artificial Intelligence. As a freelance journalist and SEO writer, Andrea has lent her expertise to various brands and remote teams worldwide and authored pieces for esteemed publications such as Vogue and Business Insider. When she is not monitoring the tech market, Andrea enjoys working on Era Freelance, her online project for remote workers, learning languages online, trying the best travel apps, and connecting with nature at the beach or on a hike.

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