S.Korea's Naver Buys U.S. Poshmark In $1.2 Billion Deal, Invites Skepticsm

South Korean e-commerce company Naver Corp announced a $1.2 billion purchase of U.S. fashion resale platform Poshmark Inc but investors questioned the timing of its biggest acquisition amid a slowing economy and sent its shares tumbling. Naver, which is also South Korea's top search engine, will pay $17.90 cash for each Poshmark share and acquire all of its outstanding stock in a foray into the U.S. e-commerce market. Poshmark is the largest fashion consumer-to-consumer platform in North America, with 80 million registered users led by Millennial and Gen Z active users, Naver executives said in a conference call on Tuesday. The deal will combine Poshmark's shopping platform with Naver's technology, likely starting with live-streaming, a key driver of e-commerce in South Korea, followed by technologies such as image recognition and artificial intelligence, the two companies said in a statement. With Millennials and Gen Zers leaning toward value-driven consumption such as environmental protection, and with inflation squeezing wallets, Naver and Poshmark seek to lead "re-commerce" or consumer-driven resale - expected to be the next global trend after convenient e-commerce, or fast fashion, Naver CEO Choi Soo-Yeon told Reuters.