Yahoo! Inc. has announced that it will make an additional
investment of US$60 million in its Korean subsidiary Yahoo! Korea to
upgrade operations and prepare for more alliances or acquisitions in the
local
market.
“We have reached a critical stage in Yahoo! Korea’s
development,: said Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang, at a Seoul press
conference. “We will invest about US$60 million into Yahoo! Korea —
the
money can be used for operating purposes and we will be making local
strategic
business investments to help Yahoo! Korea and seek partnerships.”
The new investment will sharply increase Yahoo! Korea’s current capital
of
900 million won (US$750,000) to 70.9 billion won (US$59 million).
“Given the estimated 10 million Internet users and overall Internet
infrastructure, Korea is one of the leading Internet markets around the
world and it is the right time to make an investment here,” added Yang.
Yang refused to elaborate on a possible IPO, or on which companies Yahoo! Korea might possibly invest
in and strike strategic alliances with.
Jerry Yang also signed a memorandum on understanding with Samsung
Electronics
for partnership in e-business to offer Samsung global networks and
services of Yahoo! and make it a participant of its shopping site on
Yahoo!
Korea.
Under the partnership, Samsung will operate its online shopping mall on
the Yahoo! Korea site starting on March 10. The two companies will also
cooperate in marketing, community service and market surveys.
The firms will also push joint development of Internet solutions,
allowing Samsung’s Web-enabled phones to have direct access to Yahoo!
Web
sites.
Samsung Electronics said the tie-up with Yahoo! will help the firm
transform
itself into a leading Internet business company.
