Shinsegae Vice President Chung Yong-jin holds his thumb up during the inauguration ceremony of professional baseball team, SSG Landers, at Josun Hotel in Seoul on March 30. Korea times file
By Kim Jae-heun
Naver may be one of the biggest beneficiaries of eBay Korea's acquisition deal if Shinsegae takes over the Korean branch of the American e-commerce firm. Ebay Korea is up for sale for 5 trillion won ($4.43 billion), but potential buyers, including Shinsegae and four local private equity funds, find it too expensive.
Shinsegae is said to be turning to Naver for support in financing the acquisition. The retailer established a strategic alliance with Korea's top search portal in March. At present, Shinsegae is seen as the strongest candidate to acquire eBay Korea.
In return, Shinsegae is thinking of using Naver Pay as the payment service for Gmarket, Auction and G9, three e-commerce websites operated by eBay Korea. At present, Ebay Korea uses its own online payment system called Smile Pay.
This is a tempting offer for Naver, which is seeking to expand its finance business. Smile Pay is widely used both online and offline at internet shopping malls as well as SPC Group's popular bakery chains like Paris Baguette and Dunkin'.
"Shinsegae has its own online payment system called SSG Pay. However, its offer to implement Naver Pay on eBay Korea's e-commerce platforms shows how desperate it wants to get Naver involved in this deal. Shinsegae has gone over various scenarios and caught Naver's interest in expanding its financial business," an industry source said.
The gross merchandise value of eBay Korea reaches nearly 17 trillion won and the internet portal could make huge profits if customers use Naver Pay to purchase items there. At the same time, Naver can hold its competitor Kakao in check in the e-commerce sector, while attracting new membership customers from eBay Korea when Shinsegae acquires the No.2 e-commerce firm.
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This data comes from MediaIntel.Asia's Media Intelligence and Media Monitoring Platform.