Rakuten in the company in August 2007 and, in 2010, it announced a joint venture with Baidu in China (Lekutian). In June 2011, Rakuten acquired Brazilian e-commerce firm Ikeda — since renamed Rakuten Brazil. In July, it bought German e-commerce start-up Tradoria and rebranded it Rakuten Deutschland, and in September UK online retailer and e-commerce marketplace Play.com for £25 million (almost $41 million), which was converted into the points-based loyalty program Rakuten.co.uk. In September 2011, Rakuten took a minority equity stake in Russian online retailer Ozon.ru, dubbed "Russia's Amazon", which had reported 2010 sales worth US$137 million. A four-company-strong consortium, led
The Link (retailer) The Link (retailer) The Link was an internet based mobile phone and communications retailer in the United Kingdom. It was owned by Dixons Retail (known currently as Dixons Carphone, formerly DSG International), the United Kingdom's largest consumer electronics retail group, and traded online through a dedicated retail website, which in addition to mobile phones also offered satellite navigation systems and broadband internet services. The brand was previously used for a chain of mobile phone retail stores, which were 60% owned by DSGi, and 40% owned by O2, the telecommunications company. At the time of The Link's retail store operation, O2