Last fall, eBay acquired Korean auction site Gmarket for roughly $1.2 billion to expand to the Korean e-commerce market. Today, eBay is announcing a partnership with Gmarket founder Young Bae Ku to expand Gmarket’s existing online marketplaces in Japan and Singapore.
Ku will become CEO of the new entity. eBay will have a 49% stake in the joint venture and eBay and Ku will both put $10 million each to the joint venture. eBay will also license Gmarket’s technology and brand on behalf of the joint venture, while Mr. Ku will provide local management expertise.
eBay is trying to capitalize on the growing e-commerce markets in Japan and Singapore – where the e-commerce markets are expected to grow by 30% and 13% respectively between 2009 and 2012. And the joint venture is expected to be a foundation for further expansion in Asia.
eBay reported stronger than expected results for the first quarter of 2010, with PayPal powering eBay’s sales. Clearly, eBay is looking to further its e-commerce revenue streams and sees Asia as a prime market for this expansion.