Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will buy NetEase Inc.-owned cross border online shopping platform Kaola, Financial Times reported Aug. 16, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Chinese e-commerce giant might pay about $2 billion for Kaola, which buys in inventory from international brands, according to the report.

In February, a Reuters report said Amazon.com Inc.'s Chinese joint venture was evaluating a merger with Kaola.

However, the Financial Times noted that Amazon did not place a bid for Kaola as the Seattle-based company is focusing on selling imported goods in China.

Alibaba and NetEase did not immediately respond to S&P Global Market Intelligence's request for comment.