[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] GS Retail announced on the 1st that it has signed a contract to acquire approximately 1.3% of Kakao Mobility's shares for future mobility services. The acquisition amount is 65 billion KRW.
Kakao Mobility is the leading mobility platform service company in Korea, providing various transportation services such as taxis, trains, buses, airlines, and navigation based on Kakao T Taxi. Recently, it has been accelerating the introduction of eco-friendly electric vehicles and expanding its mobility platform area for services and objects' movement based on vast mobility big data.
GS Retail expects synergy combined with future technologies in various mobility fields such as eco-friendly logistics based on electric vehicles (EV), last-mile delivery, and pet taxis in cooperation with Kakao Mobility. In the mid to long term, the two companies plan to collaborate to provide differentiated services by establishing last-mile logistics hubs based on eco-friendly EVs and jointly work on mobility innovations such as autonomous driving. Synergy with GS Retail's delivery agency service, Udeal (Uri Dongnae Delivery), is also anticipated.
Basically, it is expected that GS Retail's logistics, distribution services, and network can be advanced based on the mobility big data secured by Kakao Mobility. They also plan to expand business partnerships related to unmanned quick services using Box25, a non-face-to-face parcel locker currently operated by GS Retail. Since Kakao Mobility is expected to launch a pet taxi service early next year, synergy is expected with GS Retail's pet investment companies, About Pet and Pet Friends.
A GS Retail official said, "As a leader in mobility fields such as mobility big data and autonomous driving, Kakao Mobility is expected to deliver new shopping experiences and value to customers through strategic collaboration."
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