Hong Kong publisher SCMP Group - which publishes local editions of Elle, Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar - will look for e-commerce synergies following the purchase of online retailer online retailer MyDress.com.

The HK$39.7 million (US$5.12 million) acquisition will give the South China Morning Post publisher a 56.65 per cent of an enlarged MyDress Holdings, though subsidiary Affleck.

Founded by local entrepreneurs Edmund Wong and Leon Lai, MyDress launched its e-commerce platform in 2013. It quickly gained a strong reputation among online shoppers in the fast-growing Greater China region, selling a broad range of boutique and fast fashion apparel, accessories and undergarments. In 2014, it was ranked by Google as the most-searched fashion e-commerce website in Hong Kong on mobile devices. Research firm eMarketer has forecast China's total retail e-commerce sales will rise 42.1 per cent to US$672.01 billion this year, up from US$472.91 billion last year.

Hong Kong-headquartered SCMP Group is owned by Malaysian-Chinese billionaire Robert Kuok Hock Nien. Chief executive Robin Hu says the acquisition underpins the group's determination to fortify its digital development growth thrust: "Through MyDress, we will gain a firm foothold in the e-commerce space in Hong Kong and extend along the internet value chain of 'content-community-commerce', thus enabling new monetisation possibilities," he said.

The SCMP deal breaks down as HK$13.6 million for existing issued shares, HK$23.0 million for new shares in the enlarged company, and HK$3.0 million in convertible notes, both to be issued by MyDress. Affleck also has a one-time call option to acquire all remaining shares in MyDress.

Managing director of SCMP Magazines Publishing Josephine Chan says the group's current magazine portfolio gives it "the lion's share" of Hong Kong's lifestyle leisure magazine audience in both print and online: "The acquisition of MyDress will equip us with the capabilities and knowhow to further engage and interact with, and most importantly monetise, our valuable audience base," she says.

Leon Lai sees the SCMP Group investment as a catalyst for MyDress to "leap ahead and expedite our growth in the online retailing space, towards our goal of becoming the go-to destination of fashion e-commerce in Hong Kong".

Prior to MyDress, Lai led the Hong Kong operation of Taobao and Tmall, the two key online shopping platforms of Alibaba, also known as China's Amazon.

The flagship South China Morning Post was founded in 1903 in the former British colony, making it one of the oldest English-language newspapers in Asia. Media industry tycoon Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation owned the newspaper before selling it in the early 1990s to Kuok's Kerry Group, which also owns the Shangri-La luxury hotel chain.