
Naver, South Korea’s answer to Google, has moved closer to a deal that will see it snap up Upbit, the country’s biggest crypto exchange.
Naver and its financial subsidiary Naver Financial plan to hold board meetings on November 26 to confirm a stock swap deal with Dumau, the Upbit operator.
But the boards’ decisions appear to be a fait accompli, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, quoting anonymous sources close to the deal.
And Naver founder and chair Lee Hae-jin is scheduled to “personally explain” the merger plan with Dunamu at the meeting, before facing the media for a press conference on November 27.
Dunamu CEO Song Chi-hyung will also attend the press event, to be held at the Naver headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
The deal, details of which were first unveiled in September, will see Naver, which has a market cap of $39.2 billion, take control of Dumau.
Upbit’s trading volumes over the past 24 hours were worth over $2 billion, Coingecko data shows.
Naver-Dunamu merger roadmap
Lee will reportedly unveil a “merger roadmap” to the board, which he is likely to make public at the press conference.
The Naver board meeting appears to have been hurriedly arranged. Yonhap’s sources said it will “be held in a hybrid format, with some members joining in-person and others attending via video conferencing apps.”