TSCDY Tesco PLC (PK)

By Razak Musah Baba

LONDON--Supermarket chain Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) said Tuesday it has agreed to sell an 8.6% equity stake in Lazada Group SA to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) for $129 million.

Tesco's decision follows Alibaba's agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Lazada, an eCommerce platform in Southeast Asia. As part of the transaction, Alibaba will invest $500 million in newly issued equity capital of Lazada and acquire shares from certain shareholders of Lazada, for a total investment by Alibaba of $1 billion.

Tesco first invested in Lazada in November 2013 and prior to this transaction held a 19.6% equity stake--on a fully diluted basis--in the business, having invested $200 million to date.

Tesco said its remaining stake after the transaction would be 8.3%.

Tesco, the U.K.'s biggest grocer, said it will use its proceeds from the transaction for general working capital purposes.

Tesco's shareholding in Lazada was recognised as an available-for-sale financial asset in the financial year to Feb. 28, 2015, and had no impact on Tesco's operating profit in the year, it said.

Write to Razak Musah Baba at razak.baba@wsj.com; Twitter: @Raztweet

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 12, 2016 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

Tesco (PK) (USOTC:TSCDY)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jun 2024 bis Jul 2024

Tesco (PK) (USOTC:TSCDY)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jul 2023 bis Jul 2024