- Apollo Korea (Shinsegae) plans to acquire a 50% stake in Grand Opus Holding (Alibaba).
- Grand Opus Holding is expected to hold 100% of the shares in Gmarket and AliExpress Korea.
- The review period is 30 days from the date of notification and may be extended within a 90-day limit if necessary.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (Chairman Han Ki-jung, hereinafter referred to as the "KFTC") announced that on January 24, 2025, Apollo Korea Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shinsegae Group, submitted a merger notification regarding its acquisition of a 50% stake in Grand Opus Holding Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China's Alibaba Group. Upon completion of the merger, Grand Opus Holding Co., Ltd., jointly controlled by Shinsegae Group and Alibaba Group, will hold 100% ownership of both Gmarket and AliExpress Korea.
Gmarket officially entered the e-commerce market in 2003. In 2009, eBay Inc. acquired Gmarket, renaming the company eBay Korea. In 2021, Emart Co., Ltd. acquired an 80.01% stake in eBay Korea for KRW 3.4404 trillion, incorporating it into Shinsegae Group and subsequently rebranding it as Gmarket.
According to the E-commerce Market Research Policy Report recently published by the KFTC, Gmarket ranks third in the domestic e-commerce market, following Coupang and Naver, in key metrics such as single-homing ratio, membership service subscriptions, and platform switching rates after the collapse of TMON and WeMakePrice.
AliExpress Korea is the Korean subsidiary of AliExpress, a global e-commerce platform. Although AliExpress operated in Korea in the 2010s, its presence was minimal. However, since establishing its Korean subsidiary in 2023, it has actively expanded its business in the domestic market.
AliExpress Korea has successfully attracted a significant number of users by offering a wide range of affordable products. As a result, its Monthly Active Users (MAU), a key metric for platform influence, has already surpassed that of Gmarket.
This merger will primarily result in horizontal integration within the open market sector, along with mixed integration in areas such as simple payment services (SSG Pay, Smile Pay, etc.) and the broader open market industry.
Given the potential impact of this merger on the domestic e-commerce market, the KFTC plans to conduct a thorough review based on the criteria and procedures set forth in the Fair Trade Act. This process will include gathering extensive opinions from competitors and experts.
The merger review period is 30 days from the date of notification, with a possible extension of up to 90 days if necessary (excluding the period required for supplementary data submission).