Shinsegae, Alibaba get conditional approval from KFTC for joint venture
( September 18, 2025, 04:15 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: The Korea Fair Trade Commission has approved South Korean retail giant Shinsegae’s plan to create a joint venture with China’s Alibaba that will jointly control Gmarket and AliExpress Korea, on the condition that consumer data from the two platforms remain separate. The KFTC said Thursday that consolidating the data could significantly restrict competition in the online cross-border shopping market and harm consumer welfare. It warned that combining consumer data could strengthen network effects, raise entry barriers and weaken incentives to uphold data protection and security standards. The statement, in Korean, is attached....
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