Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co has acquired a minority stake in Global Ecommerce Indonesia (GEI) over a 12-month period. This is part of US$100 million equity financing raised for GEI, led by Mitsui with participation from undisclosed new and existing investors, where Mitsui will purchase a stake of approximately 10% in GEI, says law firm Ashurt, adviser to Mistui in relation to the investment.

GEI runs MatahariMall, a digital retailing platform that went live in September last year. This investment will allow Mitsui to gain a foothold in Indonesia's fast-growing e-commerce market, and the funding will go toward stepping up MatahariMall's advertising and marketing and enhancing its systems.

Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group controls GEI and, in addition to the online platform, runs 150 Matahari department stores in the country. The chain enjoys wide name recognition and MatahariMall has become a top-ranking Indonesian online retailing site.

MatahariMall warehouses and ships products from the roughly 5,000 affiliated sellers the web portal hosts. The online retailer also procures goods directly and sells them independently. The virtual mall also serves as a delivery and pickup depot for Lippo Group's Hypermart, a supermarket chain with over 100 domestic outlets. MatahariMall boasts about 680 pickup locations, including lockers at stations and universities.