ConnectWave, a portfolio company of private equity fund (PEF) manager MBK Partners, is pushing to acquire Ajungdang, a lifestyle commerce platform company. ConnectWave has expanded its size by acquiring internet service companies.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 10th, ConnectWave is conducting due diligence to acquire a controlling equity stake in Ajung Networks, the operator of Ajungdang. The acquisition target is a 50%+1 share stake held by CEO Kim Min-gi, and the transaction size is said to be about 150 billion won.
Ajungdang is a lifestyle platform company that grew based on subscription comparison services for telecommunications and rentals. It provides price comparison and subscription support services focused on household expense expenditure areas such as internet and IPTV, mobile plans, and home appliance rentals. It connects consumers and companies and receives fees.
Ajungdang's revenue, which was 6 billion won in its first year of establishment, reached 18.3 billion won in 2022, 51.3 billion won in 2023, and 119.1 billion won last year. Operating profit in the same year was 23.1 billion won.
MBK Partners built an e-commerce platform portfolio by acquiring ConnectWave in 2022. Last year, it delisted and converted to an unlisted structure.
Within ConnectWave are price comparison services (DANAWA and Enuri), shopping mall building solutions (MakeShop), and cross-border shopping and logistics services (Malltail). Recently, results declined due to a contraction in e-commerce transactions and a slowdown in the advertising market.
ConnectWave's revenue, which was 403.1 billion won last year after rising from 452.6 billion won in 2022 to 460.2 billion won in 2023, decreased. Over the same period, operating profit was 29.2 billion won, 32.2 billion won, and 23 billion won, respectively.