KKR, Anchor-backed Ticket Monster gets NHN investment

The investment entirely comprises new equity. According to a source close to the deal, the full round is likely to be approximately $300 million.

NHNE has also entered into a strategic partnership with Ticket Monster intended to exploit synergies across mobile shopping, payment and online transactions. As a first step, NHNE will promote Payco, its mobile payment service which launched last year, on Ticket Monster.

Payment systems have often been cited as a bottleneck in the Korean e-commerce space. The chief concern is regulatory obstacles that make it difficult for online retailers to retain credit card information, which means details must be entered afresh for every purchase through a single platform. These obstacles have been eased somewhat, with certain payment platform providers able to retain data; Payco is among them.

"Tmon [Ticket Monster] will live up to NHNE's faith in our potential for growth and innovation. With NHN Entertainment's unmatched expertise in IT infrastructure management, we will revolutionize Tmon's commerce platform to ultimately offer customers the best shopping experience," Daniel Shin, CEO of Ticket Monster, said in a statement.

KKR and Anchor paid $360 million for a 46% stake in Ticket Monster last year, with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Pavilion Capital participating as co-investors. Previous majority owner Groupon retained 41%, with management holding the rest. The deal came barely 15 months after Groupon bought Ticket Monster for $260 million.

The KKR and Anchor investment valued Ticket Monster at $782 million, while NHNE's commitment values the business at $1.5 billion. The company saw a 40% year-on-year increase in total transaction value in the second half of 2015, with KRW280 billion registered for December alone. Ticket Monster offers more than 100,000 products through partnerships with around 91,000 merchants. Four of every five transactions are completed on mobile devices.

The company's major domestic rivals are Coupang and Wemakeprice. The former has also raised a substantial amount of money, with SoftBank Corp. committing $1 billion last year at a valuation of $5 billion. Coupang is said to be investing heavily in logistics, from warehouses to last-mile delivery.

NHNE started as a game company called Hangame in 1999 and subsequently changed its name to NHN Corporation. Three years ago, the business was split in two - NHNE and Naver, which provides internet search and related services. NHNE posted operating revenue of KRW556.9 billion in 2014, up from KRW265.3 billion the previous year. Net profit rose from KRW15.9 million to KRW50.3 million.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Technology
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Growth capital
• South Korea
• KKR
• Anchor Equity Partners