Previously, Tokopedia has been reported to be in talks with Alibaba rival JD for an investment

Chinese internet giant Alibaba has been reported to be in a negotiation to lead a funding round to Indonesian e-commerce platform Tokopedia, according to Bloomberg.

Citing anonymous sources “familiar with the matter,” the investment is reported to worth up to US$500 million. Alibaba will be joined by Tokopedia’s existing investors SoftBank Group and Sequoia Capital, which invested US$100 million to the startup in 2014.

Both companies have declined to comment on the matter.

Also Read: Choose which battles to lose so you can win the war – Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya

The report came out only days after Tokopedia has been reported by Dealstreet Asia to have “inadvertently” confirmed that they are in talks for a funding round with an undisclosed party; Tokopedia co-founder Leontinus Alpha Edison said that the company will “always” announce their fundraising to the press.

Tokopedia has recently been reported to be in talks with another Chinese internet giant, JD, for an investment that might propel its valuation to beyond US$1 billion.

According to another anonymous source, the Alibaba deal “would likely preclude” the potential deal with JD.

Once this deal go through, it will become Alibaba’s second step to expand into the Southeast Asian market after its acquisition of e-commerce platform Lazada.

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