Alibaba acquires David Beckham as global brand ambassador for e-commerce platform – Alibaba Gr Hldgs (NYSE:BABA), PDD Holdings (NASDAQ:PDD)

Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) has acquired a soccer legend David Beckham as an international brand ambassador of the AliExpress e-commerce platform.

What happened: The partnership aims to strengthen AliExpress’s global presence in the face of stiff competition from competitors such as PDD holdings (NASDAQ:PDD) i She in. As CNBC reported on Monday, AliExpress did not disclose the financial terms of its sponsorship deal with Beckham.

AliExpress is planning significant promotions, including giving away tickets for the UEFA European Football Championships starting in mid-June.

“AliExpress is helping fans get even closer to UEFA EURO 2024™ this summer,” Beckham said in a statement.

Beckham’s company DRJB holdingsreported revenue of 72.6 million pounds ($92.5 million) in 2022. Alibaba’s international e-commerce arm reported a 45% increase in sales to 27.45 billion yuan ($3.79 billion) in early 2024 despite mounting losses.

AliExpress previously invested $7 million in South Korea and hired actor Don Lee as a brand ambassador. Other Chinese companies including Alibaba-affiliated Alipay, BYD, Hisense and Vivo are also sponsors of UEFA Euro 2024.

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Why is this important?: AliExpress is a significant driver Alibabaincrease in international revenues. AliExpress played a key role in providing buyers with more choices, which increased Alibaba International’s revenues.

However, AliExpress has also come under scrutiny. The platform has been investigated by the European Union for consumer safety and illegal content issues.

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Photo via Shutterstock

This story was generated by Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari