[Click eStock] "Revu Corporation Begins Stake Sale... Possibility of Acquisition by LG Uplus"

Hana Securities analyzed on the 25th that although the stock price volatility of Revu Corporation has increased due to the major shareholder's stake sale, stock price growth is expected considering this year's earnings growth.

Recently, the sale process of 56.91% of shares held by major shareholders Kiwoom Private Equity (PE) and Korea Investment Partners (PE) in Revu Corporation has been initiated in earnest. Kiwoom-Korea Investment Partners PE selected EY Han Young as the accounting advisor and is proceeding with the sale, with LG Uplus being mentioned as the most likely acquisition candidate.

LG Uplus previously participated as a strategic investor (SI) when Kiwoom-Korea Investment Partners PE acquired management rights shares from bnw Investment for about 50 billion KRW, and currently holds a preemptive purchase right from the largest shareholder. Additionally, Dowoo Technology holds a subordinate purchase right, drawing attention to how the acquisition battle will unfold.

Hanyugeon, a researcher at Hana Securities, analyzed, "Considering that LG Uplus is the preemptive purchase negotiator, the possibility of acquisition is sufficient."

Revu Corporation currently provides marketing solutions for LG Uplus's small business (SOHO) specialized product, ‘U+ Our Store Package’. This package is an AX solution that combines various essential store communication products such as internet, phone, AI reservation, waiting, table order, and POS. LG Uplus aims for new sales of 500 billion KRW within the next three years. Regarding this, the researcher evaluated, "Considering the business cooperation relationship between LG Uplus and Revu Corporation, the possibility of stake acquisition and synergy effects are sufficient."

The key issue in the current acquisition battle is the price. As Kiwoom-Korea Investment Partners PE has formalized the sale, negotiations with LG Uplus appear to be underway. The researcher added, "Considering the overall aspects such as business synergy between the two companies, the outline may emerge as early as the first half of the year," and "Considering that the acquisition price is the biggest deciding factor, the volatility of Revu Corporation is likely to increase."

Meanwhile, Revu Corporation holds a dominant position with about 66% market share in the domestic influencer marketing platform market and is expanding its entry into domestic and international commerce markets through the acquisition of ‘Shotteu’.

The researcher stated, “This year's expected performance maintains previous estimates with sales of 55.2 billion KRW (+13.0% YoY) and operating profit of 9.4 billion KRW (+25.8% YoY),” and forecasted, “The stock price direction of Revu Corporation will also be influenced by the fact that the stock price of Reddit, a global peer company, has adjusted by nearly 50% since the 7th of last month.”

He added, "Considering Revu Corporation's earnings growth this year, we should look upward rather than downward."