Technology Sep. 22, 2011 - 06:37AM JST ( 1 )

TOKYO —

Rakuten Inc and Play.com on Wednesday announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Rakuten will acquire UK e-commerce site Play.com for approximately 25 million pounds (3.3 billion yen).

Rakuten said the acquisition represents a significant step in its continued European and global expansion. It marks the company’s third acquisition in Europe, joining French e-commerce pioneer PriceMinister, acquired in 2010, and the rapidly expanding German online shopping mall, Tradoria, which joined the Rakuten Group in July of this year. Rakuten now operates e-commerce businesses in ten countries globally, including Japan.

Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten, commented on the acquisition, “The UK market is one of Europe’s largest and most mature e-commerce markets. Play.com is not only a pioneer in the market, but also one of the UK’s most successful e-commerce businesses. We aim to leverage our e-commerce strength and experience to further expand and develop Play.com’s business model and channel its loyal user base, merchants, and deep product offerings into Rakuten’s global e-commerce network.”

The UK’s e-commerce industry is the largest in Europe and is expected to exceed $58 billion by 2014, by which time it is expected to have 55.0 million online users.