Ayala group completes acquisition of 49% stake in Zalora

The Ayala group has completed its acquisition of a 49-percent stake in Zalora Philippines, the country’s largest online fashion and lifestyle retailing platform, from Global Fashion Group (GFG).

GFG announced on Thursday the transfer of the shares in Zalora to the country’s oldest business house.

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. itself earlier acquired 43.3 percent of BF Jade E-Service Philippines, the company that owns and operates Zalora Philippines. Separately, Ayala Land Inc., BPI Capital Corp. (a unit of the Bank of the Philippine Islands) and Kickstart Ventures Inc. (a unit of Globe Telecom) also bought minority stakes in BF-Jade.

In total, the group has gained control of 49 percent of the online platform.

“This acquisition allows Ayala to capture the growing opportunities in e-commerce,” Ayala Corp. said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange late Thursday.

“This partnership will allow Zalora Philippines to keep investing in brand acquisition, marketing, and logistics infrastructure and will leverage Ayala’s key businesses representing some of the country’s leading companies in banking, telecommunications and retail business,” GFG said.

More than 1,000 international, local and private-label fashion brands are available on Zalora Philippines, including a range of international high street brands including Mango, Abercrombie & Fitch, Boss, Calvin Klein and popular local brands such as Bench, CLN and Penshoppe.

About 60 percent of Zalora Philippines’ orders are made by customers outside Metro Manila.

This acquisition is part of Ayala’s strategy to invest in new disruptive businesses that provide innovative solutions to evolving markets.

The group recognizes that e-commerce is a unique growth channel that complements existing businesses, drawing on synergies with the rest of the Ayala group.

With the evolving behavior and preferences of consumers today, Zalora Philippines’ proprietary retail and logistics platform is seen to cater to the needs of a rapidly changing market.

Zalora Philippines was co-founded in 2012 as part of the global network of the Zalora Group, which is 100 percent owned by GFG, the world’s largest online fashion platform for emerging markets.