Rakuten, the world’s third largest e-commerce company, has acquired Spanish streaming and VoD business, Wuaki.tv. The acquisition will see Rakuten further extend its global reach as it enters the Spanish market for the first time.

Founded in 2009, Wuaki.tv is headquartered in Barcelona and offers premium content over the Internet directly to Smart TVs. The business has existing content distribution agreements with Hollywood majors as well as local studios, and partnership agreements with leading TV manufacturers to incorporate its technology into their televisions.

Following recent investments in e-commerce and social media platforms, the Wuaki.tv acquisition represents a significant step forward in building out the Rakuten ecosystem and marks the business’ fourth European acquisition in two years.

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