Alibaba said Friday it will acquire a cross-border e-commerce business unit, Kaola, from the Nasdaq-listed Chinese internet company NetEase for about $2 billion.
Kaola sells imported products in China that include clothes, consumer electronics, and sports accessories. It is one of the biggest Chinese e-commerce sites focused on selling imported goods in the country, alongside Alibaba's Tmall Global and JD.com's JD Worldwide.
Alibaba said it plans for Kaola to continue operating independently under its current brand, but it will have a new leader at the helm. Tmall Import and Export General Manager, Alvin Liu, will take over as CEO.
With Tmall Global and Kaola, Alibaba will have a massive market presence in the cross-border e-commerce sector.