"On 5 June, the closure of the deal will be announced", the source said.
In September 2018, RDIF and the three companies announced they would set up an e-commerce joint venture based on the AliExpress Pandao and businesses in Russia. The stake of Alibaba in the "AliExpress Russia" joint venture will be 48 per cent, while MegaFon will own 24 per cent, RDIF 13 per cent, and Mail.Ru Group 15 per cent.
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Mail.Ru Group will reportedly contribute cash, its e-commerce business Pandao, as well as distribution through integration with its products including social media platforms. RDIF will become a strategic member of AliExpress Russia.
Alibaba, founded in 1999, includes multiple online shopping websites, such as Taobao, AliExpress and Tmall. According to company statistics, AliExpress is the most visited e-commerce website in Russia.
Alibaba has about 300 million active buyers, the majority in China, but with a growing number based in the United States.
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