The deal, which is expected to close this quarter, should give eBay at least 67 percent of Gmarket, with the help of Yahoo which agreed to sell its 10 percent stake, as well as Interpark, which will sell its 29 percent stake to eBay for $350 million. The price of 24 per share that eBay is offering is a solid 20.2 percent premium to Gmarket's current market price, which now stands at $19.96. After the deal closes, Gmarket will delist from Nasdaq.
Gmarket has over 10 million registered users and it's a strong competitor to eBay's South Korean auction site Internet Auction Co. eBay plans to combine the two sites, which focus on different products (Gmarket is fashion-oriented, while Internet Auction focuses on electronics and sports goods). The two companies combined will have 87 percent of South Korean's online customer-to-customer market.