Coupang appoints ex-Fed official as board member Kevin Warsh led M&A department at Morgan Stanley in his earlier career
Translated by Ryu Ho-joung 공개 2019-10-16 08:00:00
이 기사는 2019년 10월 16일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.
Coupang, one of South Korea's most popular e-commerce platforms, has appointed an economist and former senior U.S. government official as a member of its board of directors, further fueling speculation that the company might put itself up for sale.Coupang recently announced that former Federal Reserve (Fed) governor Kevin Warsh has joined its board of directors. "Coupang's mission is to transform our customers' lives," Kim Beom-seok, founder and CEO of Coupang, said in a statement. "Kevin's expertise will help us to continue growing and innovating to achieve that goal," he added.
Warsh is a renowned financier, who was also mentioned as one of candidates for Janet Yellen's successor in 2017 when the former Fed Chair stepped down. Industry watchers see the appointment as part of the company's efforts to attract additional investment. Despite aggregate proceeds amounting to more than four trillion won, the e-commerce platform still needs more money to fund further growth, with its accumulated loss reaching 3.5 trillion won.
Some experts are connecting the dots between the appointment and the possibility of selling the company. Prior to serving in the U.S. government, Warsh was a Vice President and Executive Director at Morgan Stanley in the M&A department.
There have been widespread rumors that Coupang might be sold to Amazon. The business model for the South Korean e-commerce company is much similar to Amazon's. With the aim to become Korea's Amazon, Coupang is seeking economies of scale, like Amazon did, continuing its investments to increase market share despite losses.
The fact that Amazon does not have a business unit in Korea also supports the rumors. The global e-commerce giant has not entered the Korean market yet, though it launched its local websites in other major Asian markets including China and Japan.
Amazon is reportedly more of negative about Korea's e-commerce market segment, with the domestic market already mature and competition getting fiercer. However, industry watchers see there is still a possibility that Amazon may expand its business to Korea, the third largest e-commerce market in the world behind China and the U.S, by acquiring a competitive firm.
"With continued losses, Coupang could face more pressure to sell the company from its investors who want to exit their investment. Amazon could be one of potential buyers when considering Coupang's size and the e-commerce market home and abroad," one industry source said.
SoftBank is also considered another potential buyer. Such a possibility has been rumored after the Japanese group's first one-billion-dollar investment in Coupang in 2015 followed by the two billion dollars last November.
Still, there is a chance for Coupang to go public, a prediction based on the view that it would be difficult to sell the company due to its massive losses. In this scenario, listing on Nasdaq in 2020 is considered highly likely.
Coupang has firmly denied such speculations. "There is zero possibility at present. I have nothing to say [about the rumors]," said a company official.
(By reporter Chung Mi-hyung)
< 저작권자 ⓒ 자본시장 미디어 'thebell', 무단 전재, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지 >
best clicks
최신뉴스 in 전체기사
-
- AI 외치는 삼성, 자신감·위기감 '공존'
- 시큐센, 1분기 매출 41억·영업손실 13억
- 콤텍시스템, 1분기 적자폭 감소 "AI 공격 투자"
- '어닝서프라이즈' 파워넷 "성장 모멘텀 계속"
- '이 어려운 시기에'...KB증권, 동문건설 '본PF' 성공
- '청산 수순' 빗썸메타, 마무리 투수 '최대열 대표' 등판
- '금 견인' 아이티센, 역대 1분기 최대 매출 달성
- '탈모사업 선전' 메타랩스, 1분기 매출 115%↑
- [HLB '리보세라닙' 미국 진출기]불발된 국산 항암제 첫 미국 진출, FDA 사실상 '승인 거절'
- 한화생명, 제도 강화에 킥스비율 하락…연 목표 하향