KFit Group, a leading O2O company that also offers a subscription-based fitness sharing services in Southeast Asia, has acquired the Malaysian business unit of Groupon, an e-commerce marketplace connecting millions of subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in more than 28 countries.
This follows KFit’s acquisition of Groupon’s Indonesia business in August this year.
RIP, Groupon Malaysia.
For the uninitiated, this is the same person who started GroupsMore, and of which was eventually acquired by Groupon, Inc. at the height of the group buy craze back in 2010.
As we all know, with the eventual decline of interest in this so-called group deal stuff; and the other scam that we reported before, with the eventual demise of companies like Ensogo, Dealmates, iBuy, MyDeal, Living Social and a couple of others out there, it paved the way for other hopefuls to launch what is termed online marketplaces.
And hello, KFIT.
The ex-founder of Groupon Malaysia, Joel Neoh conveniently exited the group buy business at the height of its popularity, and having then reached its peak — there were already rumors forecasting the slow but painful demise of such business models. Boy, he sure got out quick.
Out came KFIT, ironically by someone who’s neither a poster boy, nor fit enough to walk the talk. Started in April 2015 as a fitness sharing platform, KFit has now become an O2O company and expanded to various other verticals such as food and restaurants, beauty and wellness, and lifestyle and Activities. The platforms under the KFit Group — Fave, Groupon Indonesia and KFit — have connected millions of customers to thousands of offline businesses in key Southeast Asian market centres.
It’s like insider trading … you sell it first. Then you buy back again.
According to a reputable source, this is akin to the founder selling off his own business, bought with someone else’s money, and having started another company, to reacquire back the same fledgling company with someone else’s money. Now go figure.
Saved by a shady acquisition deal?
With this so-called acquisition, it can be concluded that the Groupon departure is now complete, the company is after all losing ground and winding up its business in Asia, and saved at the 11th hour by a shady acquisition deal.
The latest deal will see Groupon Malaysia transition to Fave (its recently launched O2O platform) in early 2017 and expand Fave’s offerings to cover restaurants, beauty, wellness, gyms, studios, hotels, holidays, leisure, entertainment and professional services.
The greatest deal of all!
Like its namesake, and the tons of cheap deals that were persistently hawked on its platform, Groupon Malaysia has finally listed and sold the greatest deal of all — itself.
