Rakuten acquires French e-commerce logistics business

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Rakuten, the world’s third largest e-commerce company, on Tuesday announced that it has agreed to acquire a leading French e-commerce logistics business, Alpha Direct Services (ADS). The acquisition marks Rakuten’s first logistics investment outside of Japan and is set to provide business synergies for its global e-commerce marketplaces, in particular Rakuten’s European business including PriceMinister in France.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Beauvais, ADS is France’s leading e-commerce logistics business with over 100 merchants ranging from small businesses to large well-known brands such as Nestle, L’Oreal and Sarenza. Over the last decade the company has established a highly effective and cost efficient full service e-commerce logistics model encompassing front-end websites, order management, warehousing, fulfillment delivery and customer support. The company has the potential to quickly scale beyond France into wider Europe.

From a retail service perspective, Rakuten said the acquisition will allow merchants to capitalize on same day delivery in Paris and next day delivery across Europe.