Rakuten buys Brazilian e-commerce Ikeda
O Estado de S. Paulo
The online retailer Rakuten announced the purchase of the e-commerce company Ikeda, headquartered in São Paulo, marking the first incursion of the Japanese company in the Brazilian market, in one more stage of its expansion abroad. Japan's largest online retailer in earnings, Rakuten has not revealed the value of the operation, but the deal allows it to take advantage of the growing demand for online shopping in the largest economy of South America, with 40% of the internet users in the region.
Ikeda, leading provider of e-commerce services, helps the largest retail companies of Brazil to establish their online stores. Together, the companies should launch a new shopping mall in the Brazilian internet, as informed to Dow Jones a source close to the matter.
Since many Japanese companies have faced the stagnation of the domestic market, Rakuten, headquartered in Tokyo, turned towards the foreign markets for growth. Last year, the company acquired the North American Buy.com for US$ 250 million and the French PriceMinister for € 200 million (US$ 263.3 million). In October, Rakuten launched an online sales service in China by means of a joint venture with the Chinese Baidu.