Source: Gmarket
Gmarket Inc., a leading e-commerce marketplace provider in Korea, and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced that Yahoo! has committed to a strategic investment in Gmarket.
Yahoo! has entered into an agreement to acquire a stake of approximately 10 percent in Gmarket from Oak Investment Partners, a multi-stage venture capital firm with $8.4 billion in total assets under management. Oak is the only significant outside institutional investor in Gmarket.
Gmarket Chief Executive Officer, Young Bae Ku commented, "We believe that this strategic investment by Yahoo! is in line with and enhances our strategy to pursue growth opportunities abroad and also complements our continued strategy of providing to our users a comprehensive selling and convenient buying platform. In connection with Yahoo!'s investment, we have agreed with Yahoo! to seek ways to implement various strategic initiatives internationally and in Korea."
Dan Rosensweig, chief operating officer, Yahoo! Inc., said, "Gmarket's strength in e-commerce complements the strong offerings we already provide in the Korean market across communications, content and search through Yahoo! Korea and Overture Korea. Additionally, we look forward to working with Gmarket to leverage their e-commerce expertise to further expand Yahoo!'s leading position in commerce in Asia."
Nakyang Seong, head of Yahoo! Korea, said, "Upon completion of the investment, Yahoo! Korea and Gmarket will actively cooperate to pursue broader opportunities in the Korean market while respecting other partners."