Alibaba Shuts Down Online Retail Platform Tmall; Tremor International to Buy Amobee for $239m

by Hannah Dillon on 26th Jul 2022 in News

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba to shut down online platform Tmall; Tremor International purchases Amobee for USD$239m (£198.7m); and Amazon advances into the healthcare sector by purchasing One Medical.

Alibaba to close Hong Kong’s Tmall

Ecommerce behemoth Alibaba is set to shut down its online retail platform Tmall this October. The Hong Kong-based service, which was launched in May 2021 and sold goods from major brands both in China and abroad, will accept final orders from customers on 21st August.

Alibaba gave no clear reason for the move, the Hangzhou-founded firm described the shutdown as a “business strategy adjustment.”

Tremor International buys ad tech firm Amobee

tremor international

Digital advertising firm Tremor International has confirmed its acquisition of Amobee for USD$239m (£198.7m).

Amobee, which was acquired by Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) for USD$321m (£266.8m) in 2012, previously purchased a number of ad tech firms, including Videology and Turn. By purchasing Amobee, Tremor International intends to bolster its “growth strategy” and enhance its ability to plan digital campaigns, according to the company’s CEO, Ofer Druker.

Amazon ventures further into healthcare with One Medical buyout

International retailer Amazon has purchased One Medical in an all-cash deal valuing the healthcare chain at around USD$3.9bn (£3.2bn).

The deal sees the ecommerce giant venture further into the healthcare sector, an area the company’s senior VP of Amazon Health Services Neil Lindsay states “is high on the list of experiences that need renovation.” Lindsay elaborated that Amazon intends to improve the experience of booking medical appointments and seeing a medical professional.