The Fair Trade Commission's secretariat recommends conditional approval of Naver Financial's Dunamu takeover, with a full-panel decision expected by year-end.
South Korea's Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday that its secretariat has submitted a review report to the agency's full panel on Naver Financial's proposed acquisition of Dunamu, operator of cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. The report recommends conditional approval after examining revised remedies offered by the companies, according to The Korea Herald.
The full panel will decide whether to approve the deal, impose conditions or block it. A decision is expected by year-end, nearly a year after the companies filed for approval, The Korea Herald reported. The combined digital finance platform would be valued at about US$14.4 billion (20 trillion won) ($14.9 billion), the outlet said.
The FTC identified 12 horizontal, vertical and conglomerate combinations arising from the deal, Yonhap reported. The Korea Herald said the examiner identified 10 markets potentially affected by the deal, including online payments, cryptocurrency exchanges, search, shopping and financial data services, and that the review found competition concerns in 10 of the 12 combinations. Direct overlaps in listed stock investment platforms and online secondhand trading platforms were presumed not to restrict competition.
The review also covered the prospective market for won-denominated stablecoin issuance, where Yonhap said the deal would create two vertical and two conglomerate combinations raising concerns. Jeon Seong-bok, director general of the FTC's Business Transactions and Merger Review Bureau, said a stablecoin bill had been introduced and the companies' submissions indicated that entering the market was a priority for them.
Under the proposed share swap, each Dunamu share would be exchanged for about 2.54 Naver Financial shares, making Dunamu a wholly owned subsidiary, Yonhap reported. The FTC declined to disclose the companies' proposed remedies, The Korea Herald said.
