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
Maplin (retailer) closed their doors with the Maplin company ceasing to exist. In September 2018, UK technology news site The Register reported that Peter Jones has bought the Maplin name and related IPs. The Maplin site has been since brought online and as of September 2018 is waiting for the official relaunch. Maplin (retailer) Maplin Electronics, trading as Maplin, was a retailer of electronic goods in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In June 2017, there were 217 Maplin stores. The company also operated an extensive online, telephone and mail order service. On 28 February 2018, Maplin went into administration, placing 2,500 jobs