Naver's $9.9 Billion Stock Swap Deal with Dunamu Delayed Again Until Year-End, Pending South Korea's Crypto Law

BlockBeats News, July 7th, Naver Financial and Dunamu have postponed the completion time of their comprehensive stock-for-stock transaction to December 31st, marking the second delay of the transaction.

This transaction, which involves the integration of Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, into Naver's financial division, was originally scheduled to close on September 30th. Dunamu, on the 6th, disclosed a revised timetable based on the initial submission made in November last year, citing unfinished cryptocurrency legislation and pending antitrust reviews as the main variables.

The company has postponed the extraordinary shareholders' meeting from August 18th to November 19th, with the shareholder confirmation date reset to October 22nd. Prior to the completion of the transaction, multiple government approvals are still required, including approval from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) of Korea for the corporate merger, approval for the change of Naver Financial's largest shareholder under credit information regulations, and acceptance of the record change of Dunamu's largest shareholder under specific financial transaction information laws. Dunamu stated that progress in any of the above processes could further extend the timetable and even lead to unexpected changes in the transaction.

At the same time, Dunamu pointed out that the upcoming "Digital Asset Basic Act," currently under parliamentary review, is also a variable affecting the progress and outcome of the transaction. With the enactment of this legislation, regulators are also considering simultaneously imposing a bank-like strict liability rule on exchanges, requiring platforms to compensate users for losses caused by hacking attacks.