Daum acquires Onket, aims to be top retailer

Daum Communications Corp., the second largest Internet portal in the nation, said yesterday it had taken over Onket, an online retailer. “We purchased a 90 percent stake in Onket for 4.25 billion won ($4.2 million),” a spokesman for Daum said. “We will conduct an aggressive online marketplace business with Onket, on the basis of our successful experience in electronic commerce with our existing D&Shop and the great number of users of our portal,” he said. The portal already has an online shopping subsidiary: D&Shop, the No. 2 domestic online retailer in visitor ranking. The top spot is held by Internet Auction, which provides an online marketplace where small businesses and customers can interact. Daum plans to reinforce its marketplace services through Onket as part of its plan to become the top online retailer. Onket will be rebranded as “Daum Onket” and will begin its new services in May, Daum said. Daum Onket will be headed by Choi U-jeong, president of D&Shop. by Moon So-young