Will Musinsa go public this year?

Will Musinsa Go Public This Year?

Musinsa's pop-up for Matin Kim at Hankyu Department Store in Osaka, Japan, is crowded with customers during the pop-up's operation from Jan. 22 to 28. Courtesy of Musinsa

Musinsa’s pop-up for Matin Kim at Hankyu Division Retailer in Osaka, Japan, is crowded with clients in the course of the pop-up’s operation from Jan. 22 to twenty-eight. Courtesy of Musinsa

Trend platform expands Asian market, incorporates AI
By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea’s largest trend purchasing platform operator, Musinsa, is striving to maximise its company worth via expansions into numerous Asian markets and new partnerships to innovate its platform, fueling hypothesis that the corporate might launch an preliminary public providing (IPO) within the close to future.

Musinsa mentioned Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Moloco, a Seoul-based synthetic intelligence (AI)-based promoting know-how agency. With the MOU, Musinsa plans to additional advance its platform’s AI-based really helpful picks for patrons.

Presently, Musinsa options merchandise from over 8,000 trend manufacturers from the world over, primarily from small to medium-sized enterprises, and boasts a membership base of over 15 million clients. The corporate mentioned that the MOU will introduce superior know-how to raised analyze particular person purchasing behaviors and ship extra customized suggestions.

Musinsa additionally opened a pop-up retailer in Osaka for Matin Kim, a Korean trend model the corporate agreed to solely distribute in Japan beginning final November. The weeklong occasion, held at Hankyu Division Retailer, concluded on Tuesday and was well-received by clients, in accordance with Musinsa. The pop-up attracted 9,000 guests and generated over 600 million received ($410,000) in gross sales, each on-line and offline.

Andrew Jeon, left, who supervises Musinsa's tech division, poses with Kim Yi-young, vice president of business development at Moloco, after signing a partnership at Musinsa's office in Seoul's Seongdong District, Friday. Courtesy of Musinsa

Andrew Jeon, left, who supervises Musinsa’s tech division, poses with Kim Yi-young, vice chairman of enterprise improvement at Moloco, after signing a partnership at Musinsa’s workplace in Seoul’s Seongdong District, Friday. Courtesy of Musinsa

Japan is a key focus for Musinsa’s market enlargement this yr. An organization official shared Friday that the pop-up occasion is a part of the corporate’s plan to open its first offline Musinsa retailer in Tokyo inside the first half of the yr.

“We need to see Matin Kim settle in Japan first after which give attention to broadening the Japanese marketplace for our designer manufacturers in Korea,” a Musinsa official mentioned.

As Musinsa strengthens its market enlargement and competitiveness, it has additionally welcomed Anta Sports activities, a number one Chinese language sportswear model, as a shareholder. Earlier this month, the Chinese language firm acquired a 1.7 % stake in Musinsa for about 50 billion received.

Anta Sports activities reported over $8.6 billion in gross sales in 2023, positioning itself simply behind Nike, Adidas and Puma. Given Anta’s sturdy presence, retail trade consultants speculate that Musinsa could also be planning a partnership with the Chinese language model to enter the Chinese language market.

Musinsa’s latest strikes point out that the corporate is striving to inflate its worth earlier than a potential IPO.

In 2019, Musinsa dedicated to going public inside 5 years after receiving a 140 billion received funding from U.S. enterprise capital agency Sequoia Capital. With the five-year interval ending in late December final yr, hypothesis is rising that the corporate will transfer ahead with its IPO.

Presently valued at round 3 trillion received, Musinsa reported gross sales of over 993 billion received in 2023, with whole transaction values exceeding 4 trillion received. The corporate’s gross sales final yr are believed to have surpassed the 1 trillion received mark, fueling expectations for additional will increase in its valuation.

Musinsa’s latest organizational reshuffle earlier this month indicators on the firm’s potential push for an IPO quickly. The corporate not too long ago appointed Choi Woon-sik, the previous CEO of Eland World, the holding firm of Eland Group, identified for his function in driving New Stability’s home success. In October, Jeon Jun-hee, the previous CEO of Korea’s main meals supply platform Yogiyo, additionally joined Musinsa as the top of its tech division.

Market consultants imagine that Musinsa’s IPO course of will speed up as soon as its 2024 efficiency is publicly disclosed within the first quarter.

Přejít nahoru