South Korean internet giant Naver has closed on its acquisition of peer-to-peer (P2P) secondhand marketplace, Poshmark.
The deal was first announced back in October 2022, when Navar expressed interest in purchasing the platform for $1.2 billion in an all-cash deal.
“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,” said Manish Chandra, Poshmark’s CEO and founder, in a statement.
The acquisition of the fashion resale platform comes at a time when Poshmark is struggling to revive its business to pandemic highs when consumers were shopping more online and sprucing up their closets. At the peak of its business in January 2021, Poshmark went public at $42 per share.
However, the company’s stock value has since then continued to decline.
Through the deal, Poshmark will help Naver capitalize on an industry that is currently valued at $80 billion and is expected to grow at a pace of 20% annually, reaching $130 billion in value by 2025. It will also help Naver expand its search-driven eCommerce business into the global secondhand C2C market for fashion.
Meanwhile, Poshmark will be able to benefit from Naver’s deep technology stack and AI capabilities, which will empower it to deliver a highly customized search and shopping experience.
“The combination will create the strongest platform for powering communities and re-fashioning commerce. Poshmark is the definitive brand for fashion in the United States that provides a social network for buying and selling apparel,” said Choi Soo-Yeon, chief executive officer of Naver, back in October. “Naver’s leading technology in search, AI recommendation and eCommerce tools will help power the next phase of Poshmark’s global growth.”
Upon the closing of the deal, Poshmark was delisted from the Nasdaq.
