Watchdog gives conditional approval for eBay-Gmarket deal

SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's antitrust watchdog granted Thursday
conditional approval for U.S. online auctioneer eBay Inc.'s bid to buy into South
Korean online retailer Gmarket Inc.
Interpark Corp., the parent company of Gmarket, said last month it had filed for
approval with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on a possible stake sale to eBay
and that the parties have held talks concerning an undisclosed amount of shares.
The FTC said in a statement that it will approve the deal under the condition
that the companies ban themselves from raising sales commissions for the next
three years and limit increases in ads and other fees to below the local
inflation rate.
Gmarket and Internet Auction Co., eBay's South Korean unit, when combined would
control 87.2 percent of the local online customer-to-customer market.
Nasdaq-listed Gmarket runs customer-to-customer sites and has more than 10
million registered users in South Korea.
Interpark said in a regulatory filing after the FTC's decision was announced that
there has not been any deal signed and that the two sides will continue
deliberating on the matter, taking into account the FTC's conditions.