Yanolja to acquire 70% stake in Interpark's e-commerce businesses

Yanolja Co., a leading South Korean travel platform operator, said Thursday that it signed an agreement to buy a 70 percent stake in e-commerce businesses of Interpark Corp. for 294 billion won (US$248 million).

Yanolja said its move to acquire Interpark‘s travel, performing arts, shopping and book businesses is intended to make inroads into the global travel market dominated by foreign platform companies.

“The two companies will cooperate to strengthen the competitiveness and advancement of the leisure industry at home and globally in the future post-pandemic era,” it said.

Interpark will set up a new e-commerce firm in charge of its travel, performing arts, shopping and book businesses, Yanolja said, without disclosing a specific timeframe. Interpark’s non-e-commerce subsidiaries in bio and healthcare are excluded from the deal.

Yanolja said it will also look into ways to support the local travel industry, along with its business expansion.

In July, Yanolja received a 2 trillion-won investment from Softbank‘s Vision Fund, the second-largest investment into a South Korean company after $3 billion for e-commerce giant Coupang Inc.

Last year, Yanolja logged an operating income of 16.1 billion won and sales of 192 billion won in South Korea despite the pandemic-caused slump in the tourism industry.

When its overseas sales are counted, last year’s overall revenue is estimated at 300 billion won. (Yonhap)