The Reason Jung Yong-jin and Lee Hae-jin United ... "To Check Coupang"

Coupang Nasdaq Listing Poses Threat
Shinsegae-Naver Join Forces

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] It is known that the rapid growth of Coupang was the background behind the partnership between Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, and Lee Hae-jin, Global Investment Officer (GIO) of Naver. The meeting of a distribution powerhouse and a platform giant is expected to trigger active alliances and mergers among distribution and platform companies.

On the 29th, a senior official in the business community said, "Coupang is the reason Shinsegae and Naver started cooperating," adding, "Coupang has established itself as a distribution competitor to Shinsegae and a platform competitor to Naver, which led to the cooperation between the two companies."

Coupang recently passed the Nasdaq preliminary review, and its listing is anticipated as early as March. Bloomberg predicted Coupang's post-listing corporate value to be $30 billion (approximately 32.84 trillion KRW).

Although the consensus was that Coupang could not maintain a sustainable structure due to cumulative losses, the situation changed as sales are expected to increase to 11 trillion KRW last year amid the COVID-19 era. Experts believe that if Coupang secures large-scale funds through listing, it will pose a threat to both leading companies in distribution and platforms.

Shinsegae is a strong offline distribution player but is still in the early stages in the online market. Through cooperation with Naver, it can expand online channels and launch new services utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technology. Naver also has weaknesses in offline logistics, so if cooperation between the two companies intensifies, there is ample room for synergy.

An industry insider said, "Since both Shinsegae and Naver have been deeply considering distribution and online business, if collaboration is discussed at the working-level, it could proceed very quickly," adding, "The alliance between the two companies could be a groundbreaking turning point that shakes up the domestic distribution market landscape."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.