Play.com sold off to Rakuten for £25 million
When it comes to buying DVDs, Blu-Ray’s or games online, Play.com has always been on my top list of places to stop by to compare prices and to see the latest offers ever since 2006, and one of the amazing ways they became so successful was because they could offer the above products VAT free to UK customers, with thanks to having some pretty nifty accountants finding a loophole in the tax system allowing the retailer to sell DVDs, CDs and other goods available for less than £18 free of VAT to UK customers.
Now Play.com has sold off their business to Japan based online services provider Rakuten, whose key services include e-commerce, travel and banking. In the £25 million deal, Rakuten has expressed serious motivation to expand Play.com’s reach and grow the business to the next level. On this, Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said:
“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”.
Interestingly, Rakuten is well known for aquiring e-commerce businesses in Europe, after last year buying up PriceMinister.
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