The parent of discount online retailer Wish has agreed to sell its assets and liabilities for US$173 million to Singaporean e-commerce company Qoo10.

ContextLogic will sell assets including Wish to Qoo10 for US$6.50 per share in cash, according to a statement on Monday (Feb 12) that confirmed a Bloomberg News report. 

ContextLogic will remain as an entity holding proceeds from the deal as well as US$2.7 billion of so-called net operating loss carryforwards, a tax-related asset that can be used to lower taxable income in the future.

ContextLogic may seek out a financial sponsor to help monetise its tax assets, according to Monday’s statement. One way to do that would be to combine ContextLogic with a tax inefficient business, though the board is exploring various possibilities.

Shares of ContextLogic rose as much as 44 per cent in premarket trading in New York on Monday. The stock closed at US$4.50 on Feb 9, giving the company a market value of about US$108 million. It was worth US$14 billion when it went public in 2020. 

ContextLogic, which does business as Wish, has been losing money amid stiff competition from e-commerce platforms such as Shein.

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A transaction would be the culmination of a strategic review that ContextLogic announced in November.

The company has been under pressure from activist investor Cannell Capital, which had criticised its consistently negative results and market value collapse. 

JPMorgan Chase & Co is advising ContextLogic and Jefferies Financial Group is working with Qoo10. BLOOMBERG