이 기사는 2021년 03월 25일 07시46분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Kakao Corp has set its sights on acquisitions of mobile commerce platforms as the internet giant tries to expand its presence in the ecommerce market where the competition is intensifying.

The company, which operates South Korea’s most popular messaging app Kakao Talk, is searching for potential acquisition candidates as part of efforts to grow its ecommerce business, industry sources said. It is particularly interested in buying mobile commerce platforms that target younger generations.

The move comes after the company recently decided not to bid for eBay Korea, which drew a lot of attention from the country’s industry players. One reason behind the decision was the company’s strategic focus on mobile, sources said.

Kakao has centered its ecommerce strategy around Kakao Talk, which has over 46 million of monthly active users. Its gift service, Kakao Gifts, and social commerce service, Talk Deal – both of which are offered within the messaging app – can benefit from this large user base.

Kakao’s strategic focus is on younger consumers, who typically like to share opinions before and after they purchase goods and put more focus on a wholesome consumer experience rather than just a product. In contrast, Auction and Gmarket, operated by eBay Korea, rely on cheaper prices and fast delivery to attract shoppers and their users are mostly in their 30s and 40s.

Mobile commerce players such as StyleShare, Grip and Musinsa have been mentioned as Kakao’s potential acquisition targets, as they are considered to be a good fit to create synergies with the company.

StyleShare, founded in June 2011, is a community-based commerce platform targeting Generation Z, those born between mid-1990s and mid-2010s. Its gross cumulative merchandise value (GMV) grew to 55 billion won ($48.5 million) after it acquired online shopping mall 29CM in 2018.

Musinsa is a fashion commerce platform launched in 2001. It has 8 million users as of February with 5,700 brands sold on the marketplace. It achieved GMV of more than 900 billion won in 2019.

Grip is the country’s first live commerce platform launched in February 2019. With more than 8,200 merchants on the platform, its cumulative GMV surpassed 24 billion won at the end of last year thanks to changes in consumer behavior caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rapid growth in revenues has boosted the values of the companies. Musinsa recently raised 130 billion won from Square Capital and IMM Investment at a valuation of 2.5 trillion won. StyleShare’s valuation also reached 200 billion won. Grip is estimated to be worth about 50 billion won.

“We haven’t started a review of acquisition targets,” said an official at Kakao. “Our commerce strategy is more focused on engagement with consumers, rather than cheaper prices and logistics, and offering new, differentiated products to consumers.” (Reporting by Hana Suh)