Korea Center Subsidiary Acquires Linkprice with 39 Billion KRW Investment

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] E-commerce total solution company Korea Center announced on the 9th that it has decided to acquire LinkPrice, a specialized affiliate marketing company, through its subsidiary PlayAuto.

The acquisition amount is 39.25 billion KRW, acquiring 99.87% of LinkPrice's shares. The final acquisition date is scheduled for the 28th of next month.

LinkPrice, the number one specialized affiliate marketing company, is focused on keyword advertising and affiliate marketing, securing about 400 advertisers and 200,000 affiliate sites. As of 2018, it recorded sales of 19.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 3.91 billion KRW, with average sales and operating profit growth rates of 61% and 195%, respectively, from 2016 to 2018.

Korea Center's strategy with this LinkPrice acquisition is to expand its business portfolio and maximize synergy in domestic and international markets. First, advertising synergy is expected among LinkPrice, a leader in keyword advertising, PlayAuto's 5,000 member companies, and Korea Center's MakeShop with over 31,000 shopping malls. Keyword advertising customers of LinkPrice and PlayAuto will complement each other, and Korea Center's MakeShop advertising will secure strong competitiveness in keyword advertising sectors such as open markets.

A particularly notable area is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing can be classified into affiliate sites and advertiser products. LinkPrice holds the largest affiliate network in Korea, which is expected to create definite synergy in the Enuri price comparison products and Malltail reward member sectors. Enuri price comparison products can be exposed to affiliates to generate new revenue, and promotional expansion and brand awareness of Enuri price comparison are also expected. The synergy between Malltail Reward (with about 600 overseas advertisers) and LinkPrice, which focuses on domestic advertisers, is also noteworthy.

Kim Ki-rok, CEO of Korea Center, said, “Korea Center, which has provided a one-stop solution for sellers, will give wings to sellers through the acquisition of LinkPrice. We will meet customer expectations with explosive synergy in each field through performance.”