China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has injected $845 million into Lazada, its online retail business based in Southeast Asia, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The capital infusion, disclosed in a regulatory filing in Singapore on Wednesday, brings the total that Alibaba has invested in the arm to several billion dollars since it gained control over the business in 2016, the newswire reported. Alibaba and Lazada representatives did not respond to Bloomberg‘s requests for comment.

Lazada is part of the international online shopping unit that Alibaba is planning to potentially take public in the United States, according to the report. Alibaba is splitting into six parts to spur growth of its various businesses, which include e-commerce, logistics and the cloud.

In 2022, Alibaba discussed raising at least $1 billion for Lazada before calling off negotiations with potential investors when talks bogged down over its valuation.

Alibaba has in the past explored splitting off Lazada. The unit, bought in stages from Rocket Internet SE, is considered one of the Chinese firm’s most high-profile international brands. It competes with Amazon and Sea’s Shopee in Southeast Asian markets such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Founded in 2012, Lazada Group is one of the leading eCommerce platforms in Southeast Asia. It is available in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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