San Francisco-based ContextLogic announced it reached a deal to sell its online marketplace Wish for $173 million. The transaction will see Wish acquired by the Singapore-headquartered ecommerce platform Qoo10 at a 99% markdown from the publicly traded company’s market cap in 2021.
ContextLogic will drop its current ticker symbol WISH within 30 days of the deal closing, according to its announcement. The acquisition price of $6.50 per share, however, will give investors a 44% premium on where the stock traded before the Monday announcement.
Wish.com is No. 25 in Digital Commerce 360′ Global Online Marketplaces Database. The database ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by 2023 third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).
What Wish being acquired by Qoo10 means for its future
“Integrating the Wish platform into Qoo10 will create a true global cross-border ecommerce platform to support the massive market demand,” said Joe Yan, the CEO at ContextLogic. “Upon close, we expect the new Wish platform will have an improved customer experience through increased product assortment and merchant selection. And for our merchants, we will be able to offer fully integrated logistical capabilities to deliver unmatched cost-efficient services with high quality control and transparency.”
The acquisition also provides an end to Wish’s ongoing losses under ContextLogic. The company announced in November that it was exploring “a range of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value” at the end of third quarter when negative cashflow reached $86 million.
Who are Qoo10’s competitors?
By adding Wish to its portfolio, Qoo10 will push into a competitive discount space in online retail. There, Temu and Shein are aggressively pursuing expansion. Temu, for instance, likely spent tens of millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads, in 2024. In addition, it may have as much as $3 billion being readied for its total annual marketing budget.
“Wish has innovative technology that provides highly entertaining, personalized shopping experiences for its users while serving as one of the largest global ecommerce platforms,” said Young Bae Ku, the CEO and founder of Qoo10. “By combining our operating expertise and Wish’s technology and data science capabilities, we expect to drive greater success for merchants while providing an even greater marketplace for consumers globally.”
As Qoo10 eyes its own international expansion, it will look to leverage Wish’s existing reach and business.
“With the acquisition of Wish, Qoo10 and Wish will offer a comprehensive platform for merchants, sellers, buyers, and customers globally to realize the potential of a truly global marketplace,” Ku said. “With the strong commitment from Wish’s employees and staff combined with the Qoo10 family group of companies, we are well positioned to realize our long-stated goal of being a leading cross-border, ecommerce marketplace.”
Closing date for Qoo10’s Wish acquisition
ContextLogic anticipates a second-quarter closing for the deal in 2024 to finalize Wish being acquired. It will face a shareholder vote and other conditions before that can happen.
“The Board conducted a thorough review of strategic alternatives with the assistance of outside financial and legal advisors,” said Tanzeen Syed, chairman of the board at ContextLogic. “We evaluated a variety of potential outcomes and determined that the proposed sale of our operating assets and liabilities, while preserving significant NOLs, represents the best path forward to maximize value for shareholders. We also believe there is a significant upside potential to obtaining a long-term aligned capital partner that would support future value creation.”
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