[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Qoo10, an e-commerce company based in Asian markets such as Singapore, is acquiring TMON.
According to industry sources on the 26th, Qoo10 recently reached an agreement with TMON's major shareholders to acquire management rights of TMON through a share swap method and is expected to sign the contract next week.
The acquisition method is expected to involve exchanging 81.74% of TMON shares held by private equity firms Anchor Equity Partners (Anchor PE) and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) for shares of Qoo10 or Qoo10's logistics subsidiary, Qxpress. The remaining TMON shares are held by the PSA consortium (TMON Global).
Anchor PE and KKR will transfer their TMON shares to Qoo10 and receive newly issued shares from Qxpress. Any shortfall will be covered by Qoo10 in cash, following a 'shares + α' method.
Since all companies involved in the share transaction are unlisted, the exact transaction size has not been confirmed.
Qxpress, the company involved in the share swap, had sales of approximately 150 billion KRW in 2020. It is currently pursuing a listing on the U.S. Nasdaq and is under review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Qoo10, which is acquiring TMON and Interpark, was jointly established by Koo Young-bae, the founder of Gmarket, and eBay. It is known domestically as an overseas direct purchase mall.
Based in Singapore, Qoo10 operates e-commerce businesses mainly in Asian regions such as Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong, and also runs logistics businesses through its subsidiary Qxpress.
Meanwhile, Qoo10 is also reportedly pursuing the acquisition of Interpark from Yanolja through a similar method.
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