Yahoo has planted another flag overseas: It's staked Korea's online retailer Gmarket.
"We look forward to working with Gmarket to leverage their e-commerce expertise to further expand Yahoo's leading position in commerce in Asia," Yahoo Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig said Tuesday in a statement.
Yahoo agreed to acquire a 10 percent stake in the company from Oak Investment Partners, which manages $8.4 billion in assets. Oak Investment Partners, the No. 2 Gmarket investor, holds 29 percent of the company, according to reports.
Interest among U.S. companies continues to be high for the prospects in the Asia region.
Yahoo took a multibillion-dollar stake in China's Alibaba.com in what has been called the largest foreign Internet investment to date taken by a U.S. company. Google has a piece of search giant Baidu.com and eBay has made moves into the region's e-commerce through several acquisitions.
IPO in the Offing?
However, it gets better. The investment comes right after Gmarket applied for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq worth up to $100 million, according to a Reuters report.
Gmarket has been eyeing a run at the Nasdaq for some time, according to China's business paper The Standard. The market in Korea has been receptive to consumer-focused IPOs, as other companies have positioned to go public there as well.
Financial terms of Yahoo's stake in Gmarket were not disclosed.
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