Oasis Acquires TMON and Scales Up... Preparing for IPO

Amendment to Articles of Incorporation to Add Business Objectives at Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting on the 19th
"Many Sellers Inquiring About Joining Oasis... Preparing for Expansion"
TMON Sellers to Join "Oasis Route"
Company Expected to Scale Up and Reattempt IPO

Oasis, a fresh food specialty platform, will hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on August 19 to amend its articles of incorporation as part of its plans to expand its open market business. With TMON resuming operations, Oasis is expected to aggressively expand its own open market, "Oasis Route," and make another attempt at an initial public offering (IPO).

According to the retail industry on August 11, Oasis will hold the extraordinary general meeting at 10:00 a.m. on August 19 at its headquarters in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province. The purpose of the meeting is to amend the articles of incorporation to add new business objectives. The last time Oasis added business objectives was in August 2023, when it included electronic financial services and payment escrow services.

This time, a total of 18 new business objectives will be added. Key additions include: comprehensive travel services; travel agency services; ticket reservation and sales agency services for discounted use of restaurants, wedding halls, skin care, photography, bakeries, and more; advertising and marketing agency services; food delivery services; cosmetics manufacturing and sales; specialized sales and distribution of bottled water; and the import, export, and wholesale of electronic products, automotive supplies, home appliances, furniture, and household goods. All ancillary businesses related to these categories are also included.

With this amendment to the articles of incorporation, Oasis is expected to expand its existing "Oasis Route" open market business. Last year, Oasis established a separate open market tab, "Oasis Route," within its main "Oasis" application, which focuses on fresh food dawn delivery. This was an expansion and reorganization of the "Brand Mall" previously operated within Oasis Market into an open market. The platform allows the sale of products related to fashion, beauty, kitchenware, children's goods, and miscellaneous items. The new business objectives being added this time cover categories that Oasis Route did not previously handle.

Oasis is expected to rapidly scale up by attracting TMON sellers to Oasis Route, operating two open markets in parallel following TMON's business resumption. Previously, in June, Oasis officially announced its acquisition of TMON for 18.1 billion won (11.6 billion won for new shares and 6.5 billion won for unpaid debts) and stated its intention to operate a separate platform.

An Oasis representative explained, "Many sellers have asked whether they can join Oasis during the process of recruiting TMON sellers," adding, "We are amending the articles of incorporation to keep the possibility of category expansion open."

If Oasis operates both TMON and Oasis Route as open markets, the total transaction volume and number of orders are expected to increase significantly compared to before. TMON, before the seller settlement crisis, had between 4 million and 5 million members as an open market. Oasis is offering a low commission of 3-5% and a next-day settlement system after purchase confirmation to attract sellers, which is expected to bring in many new sellers. The industry average commission for open markets is around 7-10%.

Through this, Oasis is expected to significantly strengthen its scale, which has been seen as a weakness in its IPO efforts. Until now, Oasis, unlike competitors in the dawn delivery (direct purchase) sector, has focused on profitability rather than sales growth, prioritizing sound management. Kurly, which operates both direct purchase (1P) and open market (3P) models, achieved a gross merchandise value (GMV) of approximately 3.1 trillion won last year, thanks to aggressive category expansion into fashion, living, and beauty. Kurly's revenue stands at around 2.2 trillion won.

In contrast, Oasis, which has operated mainly through direct purchase, recorded a GMV and revenue of about 520 billion won last year. While open market business only reflects commission revenue in sales, limiting sales growth, it is effective in rapidly increasing GMV. For this reason, there are expectations that Oasis will expand its scale through full-fledged open market operations and make another attempt to list on the KOSDAQ market.

Previously, on January 30, 2023, Oasis submitted a securities registration statement for KOSDAQ listing but voluntarily withdrew its application due to poor demand forecasts.

Oasis plans to resume TMON's business operations immediately after the completion of TMON's corporate rehabilitation (court receivership) process. Previously, Oasis announced that TMON would resume operations on the 11th, but reversed this decision just two days later, postponing the business resumption indefinitely. The reason was that court approval was required for key contracts necessary for resuming operations before the end of the rehabilitation process, making stable business operations impossible. Currently, it is understood that about 1 million SKUs (stock keeping units) have been secured.

Meanwhile, within the e-commerce industry, there are concerns that the resumption of TMON's operations could increase the burden on Oasis. One e-commerce industry official commented, "In the short term, promotions and commission reductions may attract sellers, but the most important thing in e-commerce is trust," adding, "In the medium to long term, building trust with sellers and consumers will inevitably require greater costs."