China’s LightInTheBox to acquire Singapore ecommerce firm Ezbuy for $86m

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US-listed Chinese online retailer LightInTheBox has agreed to acquire Singapore-based ecommerce company Ezbuy for nearly US$86 million.

The transaction is expected to be sealed “in the near future,” subject to some closing conditions, LightInTheBox, an Alibaba competitor, said in a statement.

Formerly known as 65daigou, Ezbuy started out in 2010 helping users shop on online marketplaces based in overseas markets like China, the US, and Taiwan. It acted as middleman, contacting sellers on those platforms on behalf of its users to purchase the items and have them shipped and delivered.

It has since pivoted to a more traditional marketplace model, with sellers listing products directly on its website.

At present, Ezbuy counts more than 3 million customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Pakistan. Just last May, it raised US$17.6 million in pre-series C funding from new and existing investors with a strong China presence, including Ventech, Sky9, and China Growth Capital.

“This transaction is part of our larger plan to build our business-to-consumer cross-border ecommerce out to scale globally,” said LightInTheBox CEO Zhiping Qi.

Ezbuy’s solid supply chain management “strengthens our emerging markets strategy,” Qi added.

LightInTheBox plans to appoint two new directors to Ezbuy’s board and hire a new CEO for the company.

Founded in 2007, LightInTheBox sources products directly from China-based manufacturers and sells them to online buyers around the globe. Its flagship website by the same name and other websites and apps are available in 23 languages.

The deal comes amid an escalating ecommerce war that has seen Southeast Asian firms join forces with deep-pocketed players.

Lazada is now backed by Alibaba after a series of transactions that began in 2016, while another player, Shopee, is owned by listed Sea Group.

US giant Amazon has also forayed into the region, landing in Singapore and looking to enter Indonesia next.

Late last year, Ezbuy made headlines because of a spat with Alibaba’s Taobao, which accused it of acting like a “scalper” with multiple accounts buying from Taobao.