'Poshmark Acquisition' Naver's Choi Soo-yeon "Expanding Service Worldwide"

Communication with Employees Immediately After Announcing 2.3 Trillion Acquisition
Confidence in Global Business Despite Market Concerns
Bold Big Deal Backed by Lee Hae-jin's Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, who made her first acquisition and merger (M&A) since taking office by betting 2.3 trillion KRW on Poshmark, the largest secondhand fashion platform in North America, is revealing her management style through communication. She expressed confidence that the M&A will lead to success by sharing the vision not only with internal staff but also with the employees of the acquired company. Although market evaluations of the acquisition are mixed, she is persistently pushing forward through communication.

Internal meetings and employee emails... Communication efforts immediately after M&A

According to the IT industry on the 7th, CEO Choi sent an email to all Poshmark employees on the 5th to share the vision after the M&A. This was just one day after the surprise acquisition announcement the previous day.

CEO Choi revealed a blueprint to expand Poshmark’s community commerce globally by adding Naver’s technological capabilities. While Naver has focused on shopping primarily through search, Poshmark has operated a community commerce business that connects social activities, similar to Instagram, with shopping, and she expressed ambition to expand this worldwide. She also showed confidence that the synergy effect will be significant given the different platform characteristics of the two companies. She explained, "I highly value Poshmark’s discovery-based platform, which Naver does not have," and added, "By integrating live commerce and image recognition technology, we will elevate the user experience to the next level." She continued, "We now have a larger platform capable of competing in the global market, which will create new opportunities," and added, "I look forward to meeting directly soon to discuss the future."

Right after the acquisition announcement on the 4th, she communicated with Naver’s internal employees. She held an online meeting with Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kim Nam-sun to introduce Poshmark and outline future plans. As the company’s stock price plunged and evaluations of the acquisition decision were divided, she directly eased employees’ anxieties.

This reflects CEO Choi’s management style that prioritizes communication. Born in 1981 and appointed as a leader in a groundbreaking move, she has led the organization with the unique communication style of the younger generation. She frequently held 'Companion Day' (online internal meetings) to promote employee welfare and reform work systems. After controversies over workplace harassment, she focused on healing organizational wounds, and now she is demonstrating momentum in business areas through communication management.

Choi Soo-yeon leads, Lee Hae-jin supports... Driving bold big deals

This acquisition was led by CEO Choi and CFO Kim. After identifying the North American consumer-to-consumer (C2C) market as the next growth engine, they reached out to Poshmark first. Global Investment Officer (GIO) Lee Hae-jin entrusted them with decision-making authority and provided full support from behind the scenes. As a figure chosen for the future, he assigned them to lead global business initiatives.

The first decision was bold. After discussing a business partnership with Poshmark at the end of last year, the deal expanded into an M&A over the past few months. Despite concerns about a global economic downturn lowering expectations for platforms, Naver decided on its largest investment since its founding. Although there was controversy over the timing and valuation of the acquisition, the company clearly expressed its determination to compete seriously with a new business model of community commerce in overseas markets.

It is also notable that they planted their flag in Silicon Valley, the heart of the global IT industry. They showed their vision and persuaded the leading publicly traded company in this IT battleground. As a result, Naver expanded its human network in Silicon Valley and established a testbed to experiment with technology. Since CEO Choi herself described it as "being on the testing ground," she has taken a decisive step in global business.

CEO Choi emphasized, "We will achieve a higher level of growth by continuously innovating and challenging ourselves in Silicon Valley, the global IT industry’s headquarters," and added, "We will create new trends in the global market by providing differentiated experiences that span shopping, webtoons, and K-pop content to future core users."

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