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South Korean internet giant Naver is acquiring US e-retailer Poshmark (POSH, $17.61) for roughly $1.2B, the companies announced Monday. Poshmark shares jumped as much as 14% in extended trading. Naver is paying $17.90 per share in the all-cash deal. Shares of the South Korean internet giant slid more than 7% in Asia’s trading session, while Poshmark closed Monday at $15.57.
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The deal will combine Poshmark's shopping platform with Naver's technology, likely starting with live-streaming, a key driver of e-commerce in South Korea, followed by technologies such as image recognition and artificial intelligence.
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Poshmark is the largest fashion consumer-to-consumer platform in North America, with 80 million registered users led by Millennial and Gen Z active users. Naver and Poshmark said they expect the deal to generate “significant revenue and cost synergies,” including reacceleration of annual revenue growth beyond 20% in the near term.
Why it matters
With Millennials and Gen Zers leaning toward value-driven consumption such as environmental protection, and with inflation squeezing wallets, Naver and Poshmark seek to lead "re-commerce" or consumer-driven resale - expected to be the next global trend after convenient e-commerce or fast fashion. The deal also adds to recent consolidation in the secondhand clothing market. Etsy (ETSY, $110.20) acquired fashion resale app Depop for $1.62B last year.
