C-Series Investment Round Values Fanli at US$1 Billion
TOKYO -- (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Rakuten, Inc. (TOKYO:4755) today announced that it has taken a less than 10% stake in Fanli, China’s largest online rebate and rebate based flash sale company. The C-series round values the Chinese online shopping company at approximately US$1 Billion. As part of this investment, Kevin H. Johnson, CEO of Ebates, a Rakuten Group company, will join Fanli’s board of directors.
"We are very excited to bring Rakuten on as an investor and welcome Kevin Johnson as a member of our board of directors,” commented Gary Ge, CEO of Fanli. “Rakuten is a genuine e-commerce pioneer with significant global experience and we look forward to working with Rakuten as we bring our vision to consumers across China and around the world.”
“This investment in Fanli reflects Rakuten and Ebates’ ongoing interest in the rapidly evolving Chinese market,” added Ebates CEO Kevin Johnson. “As the market continues to mature we believe consumers will demand world-class shopping experiences. Rakuten and Ebates hope to support Fanli’s vision of fulfilling this role and exploring potential collaborations in China and abroad.”
Fanli is the largest rebate based loyalty shopping program in China and a pioneer of “Super Rebates” flash promotion service, a combination of cash back and flash sales for brands. Ebates, which operates Chinese cross-border loyalty shopping sites Ebates.cn and Extrabux.com, is the largest online shopper loyalty program in the USA. Rakuten, which acquired Ebates in 2014, is the largest e-commerce site in Japan and is rapidly expanding its global market service and cross-border shopping capabilities.
About Fanli
Fanli Inc, headquartered in Shanghai, is China’s largest online rebate and rebate based flash sale company with 70 million members, providing and organized sales and promotion events for local and international brands, based on rebates, facilitating over 1 billion RMB GMV in goods sales a month.
About Rakuten
Rakuten, Inc. (4755:Tokyo), is one of the world's leading Internet services companies. We provide a variety of products and services for consumers and businesses, with a focus on e-commerce, finance, and digital content. Since 2012, Rakuten has been ranked among the world’s ‘Top 20 Most Innovative Companies’ in Forbes magazine’s annual list. Rakuten is expanding worldwide and currently operates throughout Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 14,000 employees and partner staff worldwide.
For more information: http://global.rakuten.com/corp/.
About Ebates
Founded in 1998, Ebates is the pioneer and leader of online Cash Back Shopping. Ebates rewards consumers with cash back on purchases while also providing access to thousands of coupons, discounts, promotions and special deals, including free shipping, at over 2,600 retailers. Ebates, which was acquired by Rakuten in 2014, operates cash back shopping sites in the United States, Canada, Russia, China and Korea.
CONTACT:
For Media Inquiries:
Fanli
Public Relations Department
qiuping.hao@fanli.com
CN: +8621-80231199
or
Rakuten, Inc.
Corporate Communications Department
global-pr@mail.rakuten.com
JP: +81-(0)50-5817-1104
US: +1-312-961-2999
