April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] NHN Global, the US subsidiary of game developer NHN Entertainment, on Aug. 13 said it is acquiring LA Showroom, a leading online wholesale apparel market place, in a bid to expand its fashion business in the country. 

The company has not disclosed the deal value, but industry sources say the price tag is estimated to be around US$50 million. 

Earlier last week, NHN Global decided on a capital increase of 57.3 billion won (US$50.65 million) by issuing 51,000 new shares to its parent firm to facilitate the deal. NHN Entertainment will continue to hold 100 percent stake in its subsidiary. 

Established in 2005, LA Showroom is an online marketplace that connects wholesale vendors and retail buyers, with more than 600 vendors registered on the platform. 

The latest deal will propel NHN Global’s expansion in the fashion B2B industry in the country. It already operates another online apparel marketplace FashionGo since 2014. Besides fashion, NHN Global operates cloud-based ERP system eLAMBS, mobile webtoon platform Comico and online game service Hangame.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)