CJ ENM, Lotte, and E-mart competing to acquire W Concept

CJ ENM, Lotte, and E-mart are three major companies that are reportedly competing to acquire

W Concept, a women’s fashion shopping mall in South Korea. These companies are included in the shortlist and already in the discussion for the final price of the deal.

The bidding for candidates

As per The Korea Times, IMM Private Equity that operates W Concept Korea, is in talks with CJ ENM, Lotte, and E-mart for the acquisition cost. IMM PE purchased the shopping mall in 2017 but decided to cash out.

Citigroup Global Markets Korea Securities, the company’s sales advisor, will be in charge of picking the winning bidder, according to investment bank industry sources. Now, the three mentioned firms are set to compete as the final bidders. The main bidding is expected to take place within this month, and the announcement of the winner will immediately follow.

It was revealed that another company was named as a bidder, and it is the 11STREET, but before the final bidding was called, it dropped out from the race. CJ ENM was confirmed as a candidate in December last year and pushed through, and now looking forward to the win and eventual owning of W Concept.

Why W Concept was put up for sale

Pulse News reported in February that many retailer giants in South Korea expressed interest in acquiring W Concept. They have been chasing for it as the women’s online fashion mall is really one of the biggest and most popular in the country.

W Concept is said to be the no. 1 brand in the women's online fashion market. It currently has 30% percent of the market share in the trade and ranks at no. 2 in the overall fashion mall business in the country. However, even with this record, IMM Private Equity is selling as it failed to focus on women’s wear that has been its main theme since the beginning.

The attempt to enter other sectors like men's wear only made W Concept lose its focus on selling clothes exclusively for women. As a result, its exclusiveness was breached and somehow affected its branding and sales.

But then again, the mall is now trying to expand to accommodate other demographic groups in the fashion industry. For this change, it seems that the best option is to sell to a company that can help W concept grow further with its new goal to expand its selections.