[Exclusive] Real Estate App Asil to Become Naver Pay Subsidiary... Acquisition Nears Completion

Push for Incorporation as a Subsidiary
Acquisition Nearing Final Stage
Acquisition Amount Estimated at 30 Billion KRW
Operation to Continue Under Independent Management

Naver Pay, the leading domestic simple payment service provider, is set to acquire the real estate big data platform Asil (Apartment Real Transaction). With Asil becoming a subsidiary of Naver Pay, the company's influence in the proptech (property technology) market is expected to grow even further.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on June 5, Naver Pay will acquire Asil, which is owned by the proptech startup Ddukkeobi Sesang, and incorporate it as a subsidiary. While the exact size of the stake being acquired has not been disclosed, it has been confirmed that Naver Pay will secure the position of largest shareholder. The acquisition process is in its final stages, with the transaction amount estimated to be around 30 billion KRW.

Naver Pay and Asil logos. Provided by Yonhap News and Asil homepage.

Asil is a real estate platform company founded in 2015 by CEO Jeon Byeongok, who has a background as a developer. In 2019, CEO Yoo Geosang, formerly of Samsung Life Insurance, joined as co-CEO. Focusing on providing investment data based on big data such as move-in volumes, school district analysis, and changes in property listings, Asil has grown into a major platform with a monthly active user (MAU) count reaching 1.4 million.

Naver Pay pursued this acquisition to further strengthen its position as a comprehensive financial platform. The fact that Daum discontinued its real estate service in April, leading to a reshaping of the real estate proptech landscape, also appears to have influenced this acquisition. Recently, Naver Pay has been focusing on combining various investment services within its Pay app. At the end of last year, it integrated 'Naver Real Estate' into the Naver Pay app.

Industry experts expect that combining Asil's real estate data services with Naver Pay will maximize synergy between the finance and real estate sectors. Naver Pay has the advantage of providing a larger volume of real estate listings compared to other proptech platforms. However, it has been evaluated as relatively lacking in data analysis capabilities that support investment decision-making. The industry believes that Asil's market analysis data can compensate for these limitations. There are also projections that this acquisition will further advance Naver Pay's real estate financial services.

However, even after the acquisition is finalized, each platform is expected to operate independently. To ensure managerial independence, the current management team is also expected to remain in place.

A Naver Pay representative stated, "The acquisition process is currently in its final stages," and added, "We will leverage Asil's strengths to create real estate services that meet the needs of even more users."