Page 20 - bne_newspaper_August_02_2019

bne Tech
August 2, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 20
AliExpess to build partnerships with Russian retailers
Chinese e-commerce major AliExpress will start making distribution deals with Russian retail chains, as well as SMEs, the representative
of AliExpress in Russia Anton Panteleev
told Kommersant daily on July 29.
Earlier this year AliExpress said it will open its global platform for Russian vendors. Its parent Alibaba closed a major joint venture deal with Mail.ru internet major, MegaFon mobile operator, and Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Now AliExpress will also start to distribute most popular non-food items in regional retail chains, according to Panteleev. It is planned that the distributors will be able to connect to b2b ordering
platform to book AliExpress supplies, similarly to the functioning of Alibaba in China.
Analysts surveyed by Kommersant believe that b2b cooperation with AliExpress will be attractive not only to small retailers, but also the largest players, as it would eliminate distributors and other intermediaries in the supply chains of Chinese producers. At the same time managing supplies through AliExpress could help eliminate storage and inventory management risks.
AliExpress already made a deal with regional electronics store chain Ast-Market, and is also negotiating with one of largest retailers Dixy.
Russian internet major Mail.ru expands gaming partnerships
Russian internet major Mail.ru closed a long- term partnership with Chinese videogames publisher iDreamSky Technology Holdings, Reuters reported on August 1 citing unnamed industry sources.
Reportedly, the companies will be producing games for local markets and are preparing the release of War Robots in China.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, Mail.ru has been building up online gaming and cybersports portfolio for years, acquiring the developer of War Robots Pixonic for $30mn back in 2016.
In 2018 Mail.ru acquired one of the largest cybersports holdings in the world Esfroce for $100mn.
In July 2019 Mail.ru has agreed to transfer
a 51% stake in Esforce to Moder Pick, a company producing racing video games.
Previously Mai.ru was said to be preparing to sell Esforce. Now, reportedly, in a non-cash deal Mail.ru will get a share in Modern Pick itself, raising its stake from 3% to 19%. The whole e-sports business of Mail.ru is valued at $110mn; the value of Esforce that will be transferred is $56mn. The joint company of Modern Pick and Esforce is valued at $350mn.
The cybersports market has grown by 75% since 2016 to $865mn and could tip over $1bn in 2019, Vedomosti writes citing the estimates of Newzoo. PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts that the market could reach $1.58bn by 2022.