Naver to acquire 20% stake in Cafe24 to strengthen e-commerce presence

Naver Corp will acquire 20 percent of Seoul-based global e-commerce solutions provider Cafe24 to expand its global online shopping presence.

With the stake, estimated at between 150 billion and 200 billion won, Naver will become Cafe24’s largest shareholder.

However, the stake purchase doesn’t include the management right of Cafe24, which will likely issue new shares for the sale.

While the Cafe24 founder wants to keep the management rights, Naver is looking to take control over the long term.

Both sides are expected to sign the purchase agreement as early as this week.

Cafe24 has formed partnerships with Facebook, Google, Baidu, Yahoo! Japan, and other channels globally for its e-commerce solutions services.

With some 1.9 million subscribers, Cafe24 enjoyed 8.4 billion won in operating profit on a 247.3 billion won revenue last year.

Cafe24 operates in China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines and plans to put up offices in India and Europe.