(Nov 26): Naver Corp agreed to acquire Dunamu Inc, operator of South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange Upbit, in an all-stock deal valued at around US$10.3 billion ($13.4 billion), as the internet giant seeks to cement its foothold in the country’s digital-assets market.
Under the deal unveiled in a regulatory filing Wednesday, Naver’s fintech arm, Naver Financial Corp, would issue 2.54 new shares for every one share in Dunamu. Naver shares rallied as much as 7.7% in after-market trading on Wednesday.
South Korea is one of the crypto market’s most active hubs for retail trading, with Upbit — which has often ranked among the world’s top five digital-assets exchanges globally — boasting a market share of more than 80%. Merger activity in the crypto space has accelerated this year, spurred on by regulatory wins in the US and greater institutional adoption.
Naver said the deal would help it “secure future growth engines based on digital assets”. Once completed, Dunamu will be a 100%-owned subsidiary of Naver Financial, the filing said.
Naver said in a separate statement that its stake in Naver Financial would drop to 17% after the share exchange, down from 70% currently. The share exchange ratio was based on multiple independent equity valuations of the two unlisted entities, and valued Naver Financial and Dunamu at 4.9 trillion won and 15.1 trillion won, respectively, Naver said in the statement.
Dunamu’s chairman Song Chi-hyung will technically hold the largest stake in Naver Financial, but both he and the vice-chair will delegate their voting rights, allowing Naver to secure 46.5% voting rights to maintain a controlling position for its financial arm.
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Crypto traders
The move has the potential to reshape South Korea’s digital finance landscape as Naver weaves payments more deeply into its ecosystem. Already, more than a third of Koreans — about 18 million people — trade crypto, with daily volumes sometimes surpassing stock market turnover.
Often called “South Korea’s Google”, Naver has spent two decades fending off global rivals while branching into payments, cloud, AI and content. Its Webtoon and Webnovel platforms count millions of overseas users.
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A Dunamu deal would transform Naver Financial from a payments provider into a money issuer, accelerating its plans for a won-based stablecoin.
The official announcement comes weeks after speculation about the deal first surfaced in South Korean media, sparking a rally in Naver shares. Since then, the global crypto sentiment has soured, with a sell-off in digital assets wiping out more than US$1 trillion in value.
Dunamu’s consolidated operating revenue for the nine months to Sept 30 rose 22% from a year ago to 1.19 trillion won, driven almost entirely by higher trading commissions. Revenue from its trading platform — including Upbit, Upbit NFT and the Securities Plus app—accounted for 97.9% of total sales, underscoring Dunamu’s continued reliance on transaction activity.
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja
