NHN Commerce acquires Italian luxury fashion retailer

From left: NHN Commerce CEO Lee Yoon-sik, Ikonic founder Maurizio Coltorti and Ikonic CEO Riccardo Bilancioni pose for a photo after the signing ceremony for NHN Commerce's acquisition of Ikonic. (NHN Commerce)

NHN Commerce, the retail unit of South Korean information technology company NHN Corp., said Tuesday it acquired a controlling stake in Italian luxury fashion brand retailer Ikonic, in a bid to further extend its reach into the global stage.

NHN Commerce now holds a 77.8 percent stake in Ikonic -- an Italian multi-brand fashion platform retailing over 250 brands in the global market.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ikonic's annual sales stands at some 100 billion won ($77 million) in 2022.

NHN Commerce said it expects to benefit from the recent acquisition by sharing business know-how with the Italian multi-brand retailer, building networks with luxury brands under Ikonic retail and securing overseas distribution channels to make inroads into the global luxury fashion market.

"We plan to actively cooperate with (future) partner brands, distribute competitive products to global markets such as Korea and China, and actively support domestic brands' entry into the global market," said a NHN Commerce official.

NHN Commerce said it plans to achieve continuous external growth by applying advanced e-commerce technology skills the company has accumulated by operating Shop Buy, NHN Commerce's shopping mall platform solution, to Ikonic's e-commerce platform.

The acquisition comes as NHN Commerce recently aggressively focused on its overseas expansion. The company announced 60 billion won paid-in capital increase on June to beef up its global business.

"We will actively utilize local networks that Ikonic has built with European luxury brands and carry out various projects to distribute competitive products to the global market," said Lee Yoon-sik, CEO of NHN Commerce.

By Lee Yoon-seo(yoonseo.3348@heraldcorp.com)