Naver Completes Acquisition of Poshmark

SEONGNAM, South Korea and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Naver Corp. (KRX: 035420) ("Naver"), Korea's largest internet company, today announced the completion of its previously-announced acquisition of Poshmark, Inc. ("Poshmark").

With the completion of the transaction, Naver and Poshmark together will create a global player in online fashion re-commerce by combining Poshmark's unique discovery-based social shopping platform and deeply engaged community with Naver's technological prowess in upleveling the e-commerce experience. As the definitive brand for fashion in the United States, Poshmark accelerates Naver's strategy to build a global e-commerce community portfolio to capture growth in large untapped markets around the world. Poshmark benefits from Naver's leading technology, expertise in Asia, and successful track record of backing e-commerce platforms globally.

Together, the companies expect to increase purchase conversion rates, deepen user engagement, create an industry leader in livestreaming commerce, and enhance the unique relationship- and discovery-based experiences that are driving fast-growing re-commerce verticals.

Sooyeon Choi, CEO of Naver, said, "We're thrilled to close the transaction and welcome Poshmark to the Naver family, creating the strongest platform for powering communities and re-fashioning commerce. I'm confident Naver's leading technology in search, AI recommendation, and e-commerce tools will enhance the user experience for the Poshmark community and create additional value for all our stakeholders. Naver and Poshmark will immediately be well-positioned to compete globally in the future and benefit from C2C as a major revenue source."  

Manish Chandra, Founder and CEO of Poshmark, said, "We are thrilled to join forces with Naver and continue evolving the future of shopping in an engaging and sustainable way. As a part of Naver, we'll benefit from their financial resources, significant technology capabilities, and leading presence across Asia to expand our platform and enhance our user experience. I'm proud of what our team has built and look forward to seeing Poshmark employees benefit from being part of a larger, global organization who shares our values and vision around content, community, and empowerment."

In connection with the completion of the transaction, Poshmark common stock ceased trading and has been delisted from the NASDAQ. As previously announced, Poshmark will continue to operate under its existing brand, as well as maintain its employee base, Poshmark community, and headquarters in Redwood City, California.

About Naver

Founded in 1999, Naver is Korea's oldest surviving start-up and today the country's largest internet company. Naver operates Korea's No.1 search engine and largest e-commerce platform, and is a leading provider of fintech services, digital content and cloud services to a global community. Naver cultivates a culture of 'Founder-type leaders' who continue to launch innovative mobile applications, including LINE (Japan's No.1 messaging app), Zepeto and Webtoons.  

About Poshmark

Poshmark is a leading social marketplace for new and secondhand style for women, men, kids, pets, home and more. By combining the human connection of physical shopping with the scale, ease, and selection benefits of e-commerce, Poshmark makes buying and selling simple, social, and sustainable. Its community of more than 80 million registered users across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and India is driving the future of commerce while promoting more sustainable consumption. For more information, please visit www.poshmark.com, and for company news and announcements, please visit newsroom.poshmark.com. You can also find Poshmark on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These forward-looking statements are based on NAVER's current expectations, estimates and projections about the expected date of closing of the proposed transaction and the potential benefits thereof, its business and industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by NAVER and Poshmark, all of which are subject to change. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "could," "seek," "see," "will," "may," "would," "might," "potentially," "estimate," "continue," "expect," "target," similar expressions or the negatives of these words or other comparable terminology that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes. All forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and are not guarantees of future results, such as statements about the consummation of the proposed transaction and the anticipated benefits thereof. These and other forward-looking statements, including the failure to consummate the proposed transaction or to make or take any filing or other action required to consummate the proposed transaction on a timely matter or at all, are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements and, therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any such statements and caution must be exercised in relying on forward-looking statements. Important risk factors that may cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: (i) the ability of NAVER to timely and successfully achieve the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction; (ii) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on NAVER's business and general economic conditions; (iii) NAVER's ability to implement its business strategy; (iv) significant transaction costs associated with the proposed transaction; (v) potential litigation relating to the proposed transaction; (vi) the risk that disruptions from the proposed transaction will harm NAVER's business, including current plans and operations; (vii) the ability of NAVER to retain and hire key personnel; (viii) potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the announcement or completion of the proposed transaction; (ix) legislative, regulatory and economic developments affecting NAVER's business; (x) general economic and market developments and conditions; (xi) the evolving legal, regulatory and tax regimes under which NAVER operates; (xii) potential business uncertainty, including changes to existing business relationships, that could affect NAVER's financial performance; and (xiii) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism or outbreak of war or hostilities, as well as NAVER's response to any of the aforementioned factors. While the list of factors presented here is, considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability and similar risks. The forward-looking statements included herein are made only as of the date hereof. NAVER does not assume any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.