Naver Financial Corp., the fintech subsidiary of South Korean tech giant Naver Corp., is looking to acquire Asil, a domestic big data-based real estate service provider, to strengthen its status in the property information market – one of the country’s hottest sectors.
Naver Financial is in advanced talks to purchase Asil, which boasts big data capabilities in the segment, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The deal, if realized, would bolster Naver’s real estate business by adding Asil to the already dominant Naver Real Estate platform, sources said.
Analysts said the combination would significantly enhance Naver’s competitiveness by improving its services and intensify competition in Korea’s burgeoning property technology, or proptech, industry.
Proptech is the tech tools real estate experts use to optimize the way people buy, sell, research, market and manage a property.
Apartment complexes in Seoul ‘REAL-TIME INFORMATION’
Asil, short for “actual apartment transaction prices” in Korean, is known for its real-time tracking of housing supply and demand, listing trends and local market data. Its detailed analytics have made it popular among both prospective buyers and real estate professionals.
By integrating Asil's data engine with Naver’s vast listing base and user traffic, the deal is expected to create one of the most sophisticated digital property services in the country, sources said.
Last year, Naver incorporated its property app services into the Naver Pay app following a corporate restructuring that transferred real estate operations to Naver Financial.
Asil is a Korean big data-based real estate information service platform (Screenshot captured from its website) Asil would continue to operate independently if Naver acquires it, people familiar with the matter said.
COMPETITION TO INTENSIFY
The acquisition bid, however, has raised concerns among some industry players who view it as a departure from Naver’s earlier pledge to support third-party information providers rather than compete with them.
“Naver’s acquisition of Asil would mean intensified competition among Korean proptech companies,” said a property information service provider in Seoul.
Naver Pay said it has no plans to reintroduce its own listings, which were suspended in 2013 amid controversy over its perceived threat to smaller brokerages.
Naver Financial is the fintech subsidiary of South Korean tech giant Naver Corp. “We remain committed to cooperation with the real estate brokerage and proptech ecosystem,” said a Naver Pay official.
SHARES FLY
The acquisition bid coincides with renewed investor optimism around Naver Corp., the parent company.
Naver’s shares hit a 52-week high this week, buoyed by continued institutional interest.
Over the past month, foreign and institutional investors have net bought 390,000 and 187,000 shares, respectively, while retail investors have offloaded 569,000 shares.
On Friday, Naver closed 7% higher at 269,500 won on the main bourse, bringing its weekly gains to 35%.
Naver Pay is the simple payment service unit of Naver Financial With the share price, Naver’s market capitalization reached 42.7 trillion won ($31.2 billion), replacing KB Financial Group as the Kospi market’s seventh-largest stock.
Kim Hye-young, an analyst at Daol Investment & Securities Co., named Naver as the domestic Internet industry’s top pick.
She offered 280,000 won as Daol’s target price for Naver with a Buy rating.
The analyst expects Naver to post 2.22 trillion won in operating profit on sales of 11.85 trillion won this year, up 11.8% and 10.4%, respectively, from last year.
Write to Myung-Hyun Han at wise@hankyung.com In-Soo Nam edited this article.
