Shinsegae and Naver Swap W250 Billion Worth of Stocks – The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea – Business > Business

Offline retailers are forging alliances with their online counterparts in a grab for a bigger slice of the burgeoning e-commerce market.

E-commerce market leader Naver and staid retailer Shinsegage announced a W250 billion stock swap on Tuesday (US$1=W1,130).

Naver said it will acquire W100 billion worth of Shinsegae International stocks and W150 billion worth of E-Mart shares.

Industry insiders said the two companies struck the deal sooner than expected to respond quickly to a rapidly shifting industry landscape after Korean delivery giant Coupang’s successful debut on the New York Stock Exchange last week and eBay Korea being put up for sale.

“We sped up the deal because we could end up losing opportunities unless we forge alliances now” a Shinsegae staffer admitted.

Shinsegae’s own online shopping mall SSG.com accounts for only a 2.4-percent share of Korea’s e-commerce market, which it hopes to bolster through the tie-up with Naver Shopping. Naver in turn hopes to capitalize on Shinsegae’s fresh food product lineup.

Last October, Naver also swapped W600 billion worth of shares with food manufacturing giant CJ Group.