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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Emart announced on Tuesday that it will merge with Emerald SPV, a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) established by the Shinsegae Group in 2021 for the acquisition of online shopping mall Gmarket (Gmarket).
At that time, Shinsegae paid approximately 3.44 trillion KRW to eBay in the U.S. for an 80.01% stake in Gmarket.
The merger is aimed at simplifying the ownership structure ahead of the establishment of a joint venture with Alibaba Group, according to Emart.
In December last year, Shinsegae Group announced the creation of a 50-50 joint venture, Grand Opus Holdings, with Alibaba Group's Alibaba International.
The joint venture will integrate Gmarket and AliExpress Korea under one umbrella as subsidiaries.
Emart will contribute 100% of its Gmarket shares in-kind, while Alibaba will contribute 100% of its shares in AliExpress Korea along with 225 million USD (approximately 320 billion KRW) in cash.
Emart stated, "We expect that this merger will enhance the transparency of the ownership structure and improve management efficiency."
The Korea Fair Trade Commission is currently reviewing the corporate merger notification related to the Shinsegae-Alibaba joint venture.
To finalize the investment amount, Emart conducted a corporate due diligence on Gmarket through multiple appraisal agencies, which valued the company at over 3 trillion KRW.
In its fourth-quarter financial results last year, Emart reflected an impairment loss of 933.9 billion KRW due to the decline in Gmarket's corporate value.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
