Ebay is planning to sell its South Korean business to the local Consortium for $ 3.1bn, according to people familiar with the matter, as the activists want to light a fire on SoftBank-sponsored CoupBang in the fourth largest ecommerce market.
Consortium, which owns the largest brick and mortar supplier in South Korea E-Mart and the Naver internet company, plans to buy an 80% stake in eBay Korea’s Won3.5tn ($ 3.1bn) with a US company that holds the remainder, he said. people.
Purchasing can help the partnership continue to grow rapidly Coupang, which raised $ 4.6bn for the first public offering in New York in March to become a major player in South Korea’s most competitive market. The technical team at Japan SoftBank is the largest investor in Coupang.
Ebay Korea was the third ecommerce company in the country with a market share of 13% last year, according to research firm Euromonitor. Its three platforms – Gmarket, Auction and G9 – recorded Won20tn in sales last year, which Meritz Securities showed.
Euromonitor predicts that South Korea’s ecommerce market will grow by 11% this year to $ 116bn. But with a split market of more than a dozen players, Coupang and Naver are managing 19% and 14% divisions depending on the number of events, respectively.
South Korea is one of the largest and fastest growing markets in the world, run by its own people with expertise in technology, high-tech infrastructure and high-density residential areas. Ecommerce had 35.8% in the retail market last year, compared to 28.6% in 2019, Euromonitor data showed.
E-Mart is planning to repay the loan with Won3tn for its financial aid and residual loans, while Naver will offer Won100bn, according to an employee in a nearby company.
“While the money is being made, E-Mart needs Naver to make its limited space online,” the official said.
Lotte Group and E-Mart importers were the last to buy eBay Korea. Both fought Coupang, which is spending a lot of money to meet the delivery time. Coupang doubled its earnings last year to $ 12bn as more consumers switched to online shopping during the Covid-19 epidemic.
“Both Lotte and E-Mart were keen to run eBay operations but E-Mart offered almost Won500bn more,” added the employee.
Naver is one of the most popular online sites in Korea and more than 40% of eBay Korean customers use it through the old search.
Shinsegae, the parent company of E-Mart, and Naver agreed in March to exchange a price with each other worth Won250bn.
Ebay Korea declined to comment. E-Mart said in a statement that it was in talks with eBay but that the sale was not finalized. Naver said in a private note that the agreement had not been finalized.
Source link
