US Internet company Yahoo Inc has agreed to buy a 10 percent stake in South Korean online retailer Gmarket, looking to tap the country's $11 billion online shopping industry.
Yahoo, the world's largest Internet media company, said in a statement on June 07, it was buying the stake from US venture capital firm Oak Investment Partners, the second-largest shareholder in Gmarket with 29 percent.
The announcement came after Gmarket applied for a Nasdaq initial public offering worth up to $100 million early on Wednesday, betting on a revival of consumer spending in South Korea.
Gmarket could not confirm the value of the deal, while Oak and Yahoo were not immediately available for comment.
South Korean Internet portal operator Interpark Corp owns the biggest shareholding with a 33.74 percent stake in Gmarket, while Interpark chairman Lee Ki-hyung holds 10.27 percent.
"We look forward to working with Gmarket to leverage their e-commerce expertise to further expand Yahoo!'s leading position in commerce in Asia," Yahoo chief operating officer Dan Rosensweig said in the statement.
Gmarket, which sells products from computers to T-shirts through its Web site, posted a net profit of 4.3 billion won ($4.56 million) in 2005 on sales of 71.3 billion won after overseeing 1 trillion won worth of trading. Analysts expect the Internet shopping market to grow about 30 percent to reach nearly $14 billion this year.
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