Naver completes acquisition of Poshmark online marketplace for $1.2 billion

Naver Corp. has officially acquired Poshmark, a US-based online marketplace that allows users to buy and sell both brand-new and secondhand goods, including electronic items. The South Korean internet company recently confirmed the completion of its acquisition deal worth $1.2 billion or around KRW2 trillion.

As per Pulse News, the deal between Naver Corp. and Poshmark was first announced in the first week of October 2022. The price was higher at that time due to the strong US dollar, and the final acquisition price decreased as the Korean won regained its strength against the US currency.

While the shareholders of Poshmark approved the buyout only on Dec. 27, 2022, during a general meeting, Naver got the approval from its board of directors regarding the buyout on Oct. 3. In the United States, the corporate merger of the companies was approved on Nov. 18.

To acquire Poshmark, Naver formed a special-purpose acquisition company called Proton Parent. This SPAC took charge and completed the process of the acquisition last week. The American firm is now legally part of Naver.

At any rate, Naver originally planned to close the deal with Poshmark in April this year but it recently decided to rush the completion to tone down the concerns of investors over the high acquisition cost since the exchange rates are going up and down.

With Poshmark now listed on its portfolio, Naver is expecting the brand to help with the expansion of its C2C business worldwide. C2C has been described as a business model where customers buy goods and services from other customers through a third-party site.

"We are thrilled to close the transaction and welcome Poshmark to the Naver family, creating the strongest platform for powering communities and re-fashioning commerce,” Naver’s chief executive officer, Choi Soo Yeon, said in a press release. “I am confident Naver's leading technology in search, AI recommendation, and e-commerce tools will enhance the user experience for the Poshmark community and create additional value for all our stakeholders.”

Poshmark’s founder and CEO, Manish Chandra, further said, "We are thrilled to join forces with Naver and continue evolving the future of shopping in an engaging and sustainable way. As a part of Naver, we will benefit from their financial resources, significant technology capabilities, and leading presence across Asia to expand our platform and enhance our user experience.”