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The deal is part of iFashion’s acquisition strategy as the company follows a roadmap to IPO on the ASX early next year

iFashion Group — an online fashion/lifestyle venture platform with an explicit business strategy of ‘acquisition and growth’ — announced today it has acquired e-retail platform INVADE for S$1.5 million (US$1.1 million).

The deal will include a combination of cash and shares.

As reasons for the acquisition, the iFashion Group statement cited easy integration of INVADE’s online platform while also expressing excitement about leveraging INVADE to build a pipeline into brick-and-mortar retailing.

“This venture brings about mutual sharing of experience and knowledge between the two companies. By joining the iFashion Group, INVADE will benefit from resources such as access to capital and corporate resources from an experienced entrepreneurial team. In return, we would gain from INVADE’s vast exposure to the commercial property market,” said Jeneen Goh, Managing Director of iFashion Group in an official statement.

The flagship product for INVADE is an online retail rental booking platform for pop-up stores launched in January. The platform is similar to AirBnB in the sense that it allows owners to rent their space and sellers can browse through the list and find the property that best suits their needs.

Also Read: Zalora confirms it is selling its Thailand and Vietnam businesses

Pop-up retailing has become an increasingly popular method to both test a market, boost awareness in a neighborhood and, for some companies, it has become the brand itself.

Essentially, a retailer will ‘pop-up’ in a location for a short period of time with no intention of making a long-term play for that particular location. It also goes a long way towards helping online companies begin the transition towards an O2O business model.

INVADE has a database of 35,000 users and also manages two brands separate from the rental platform.

Fleawhere by INVADE organises flea market events across Singapore and Space Invasion by INVADE is a pop-up facilitation company targeting young people. Unlike the INVADE platform, Fleawhere and Space Invasion have been around for a couple of years.

Also Read: Rakuten’s Rakuma goes all-out for Taiwan expansion, appoints country manager

iFashion Group is following an acquisition strategy and said it will acquire other companies. The idea is to work towards an IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) early next year by growing the brands under its umbrella.

The goal is to become the leading online fashion group in Southeast Asia by covering a large variety of business models and markets.

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