Liberty To Acquire Online Retailer

(Reuters)--Media mogul John Malone's Liberty Interactive Corp (QVCA.O) said it would acquire Zulily Inc (ZU.O) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $2.4 billion to tap into the online retailer's younger clientele and its strong mobile presence.

Zulily, a website that hosts "flash" sales of clothing primarily for women and children, counts Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) as one of its shareholders.

The offer of $18.75 per share represents a premium of about 49 percent to Zulily's Friday close. The company's stock was up 50 percent in premarket trading on Monday.

Up to Friday's close, Zulily's stock had fallen about 43 percent since its debut in November 2013.

John Malone

Liberty Interactive, the media conglomerate which owns home shopping network QVC, is known for investing in a range of digital commerce businesses.

Liberty Interactive said it would buy Zulily for $18.75 per share, or $9.375 in cash and 0.3098 newly issued share of Liberty Interactive for each Zulily share.

"Zulily's younger customer demographic, personalization expertise and ecommerce capabilities will boost QVC," the companies said in a statement.

In the second quarter ended June 28, about 56 percent of Zulily's orders were placed from a mobile device, up from about 49 percent a year earlier.

(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Maju Samuel)