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EBay Acquiring South Korean Auction Affiliate

EBay Inc., according to news wire reports, has offered a price near $530 million to purchase the remainder of eBay South Korean affiliate - Internet Auction Co. Ltd. The move is seen as an expansion of the eBay strategy to push deeper into Asia. EBay said on Wednesday it had agreed to pay key institutional shareholders $325 million to raise its stake in South Korea’s industry leader to 86 percent from 62 per cent, according to a Reuters report.

eBay said it intended to start a tender offer in coming weeks for the remaining shares of Internet Auction at a 21.6 per cent premium to Tuesday’s closing price.

“EBay wants all of Internet Auction to take it off the market and make it a private company. That has been their policy globally in order to allow aggressive and speedy decision making,” said Jay Park, analyst at Samsung Securities.