[Click eStock] "Ali and 'Anti-Coupang' Alliance... Emart Maintains Target Price"

On the 30th, IBK Investment & Securities maintained a buy rating and a target price of 83,000 KRW for Emart, stating that it has "formed an 'anti-Coupang' alliance by partnering with Ali."

On the same day, Nam Seong-hyun, a researcher at IBK Investment & Securities, said, "As logistics efficiency and online strategies are being strengthened in earnest, doubts about future growth prospects will be alleviated."

On the 26th, Emart announced through a public disclosure that it would invest in shares of China's AliExpress and Gmarket. Apollo Korea will contribute 100% of its Gmarket shares as a non-cash contribution, while AliExpress will contribute shares of AliExpress Korea as a non-cash contribution and additionally invest cash assets separately to establish a 50-50 joint ownership. The estimated corporate value from this is about 6 trillion KRW, and it is reported that they plan to discuss investment recovery through an initial public offering (IPO) in the future.

Researcher Nam said, "Through this investment, the plan is to maximize the synergy between AliExpress and Gmarket to expand dominance in the domestic e-commerce market," adding, "This indicates an acceleration in building the anti-Coupang alliance."

In particular, Emart is expected to strengthen the competitiveness of Gmarket's previously weak 'seller lock-in' and seek to enhance its product categories. Researcher Nam noted, "This is not simply about seeking business synergy between Ali and Emart, but about curbing Coupang's market dominance through synergy in logistics and online operations," and added, "From Emart's perspective, there are two major synergies. First, by helping sellers who come through Gmarket to expand overseas, they can build a quality seller base, and second, by expanding overseas direct purchase products, they expect to secure traffic."

He continued, "In Ali's case, there is the advantage of being able to build a structure that strengthens the alliance with CJ Logistics. Products with weak competitiveness, such as fresh food, can also be enhanced," and said, "While Coupang has built its competitiveness through vertical integration, the anti-Coupang alliance aims to build competitiveness through segmentation and collaboration."

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