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
Thomann (retailer) Thomann (retailer) Musikhaus Thomann is a German-based retailer of musical instruments, studio, lighting, and pro-audio equipment. Thomann became widely known primarily due to its large online retail operation, Thomann Cyberstore. According to a 2014 article in the largest Upper Franconian newspaper based in Bavaria, the "Fränkischer Tag" , Musikhaus Thomann is the largest online retailer of its category of merchandise, worldwide. Hans Thomann, Sr., founded the company years ago (in 1954) as a family business in — part of the village of Burgebrach, in Bavaria, Germany — where the Musikhaus Thomann headquarters endures today (2019). And, as of 2019, the