Shinsegae, Emart to jointly acquire entire stake in SSG.com

Shinsegae and Emart, key affiliates of the retail conglomerate Shinsegae Group, said on Thursday that they will acquire the entire stake in the group's e-commerce affiliate SSG.com in a deal valued at about 1.27 trillion won ($830 million).

In separate regulatory filings, the two companies said that they will jointly purchase all SSG.com shares held by the financial investor Olympus First, with Emart acquiring its portion for 827.5 billion won and Shinsegae for 443.6 billion won.

Upon completion of the transaction on Aug. 26, Emart and Shinsegae will hold 65.1 percent and 34.9 percent stakes, respectively, in SSG.com.

According to the two companies, the acquisition is intended to "improve the efficiency of e-commerce operations and enhance long-term corporate value."

In November 2024, they sold a combined 30 percent stake in SSG.com to Olympus First, a financial investor backed by six banks and four securities firms, in a deal worth 1.15 trillion won.

The agreement included a call option allowing Emart and Shinsegae to repurchase the entire stake 18 months after the contract was signed.

The move comes as Shinsegae Group seeks to strengthen management oversight across its key businesses following a controversy involving Starbucks Korea, which is operated by Emart.

Last month, Starbucks Korea faced strong public criticism over its "Tank Day" promotion, which coincided with the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement and drew backlash for evoking memories of the military's violent crackdown on the movement in the 1980s.

On Monday, the group announced that Chairman Chung Yong-jin would take the helm of Emart and serve as co-CEO of Shinsegae Property, its property development affiliate.

Yonhap