Regulatory Review of Naver-Dunamu Deal Had Not Been Announced by October 7
Key Facts
It was not possible to verify whether the Korean Fair Trade Commission had issued a new report on the Naver Financial-Dunamu deal as of November 10, while Chosunbiz reported on October 7 that a review of the business combination application had not been announced by that date. The commission's approval remains one of the regulatory conditions for completing the share swap, according to the newspaper, citing Dunamu. The company said the deal also requires other approvals and procedures, including a change in Naver Financial's largest shareholder and acceptance of a notification of a change in Dunamu's largest shareholder. With no announcement of the review by October 7, Chosunbiz expected the timetable to be delayed. That leaves the deal awaiting regulatory action, without resolving the review's outcome or fate.
Naver revised the deal timetable on March 30, 2026, moving the shareholders' meeting from May 22 to August 18 and postponing the deal's completion date from June 30 to September 30. The company said the change reflected approval procedures and the status of related legal amendments. It added that the timetable revision was intended to allow for a more stable completion of the deal while procedures, including regulatory approvals, continued. The March revision shows that the announced timetable was subject to these procedures before the review report that had not been announced by October 7. The available evidence did not provide a later completion date following the revised timetable.
The proposed deal combines Dunamu's blockchain and digital asset business with Npay's financial services and Naver's AI and search infrastructure. In their official announcement on November 27, 2025, the companies presented the alliance as bringing together large-scale digital asset trading with Naver's payment and finance services and technology infrastructure. In the same announcement, the companies said they planned to invest 10 trillion won over the five years following the merger in Korea's blockchain, Web3 and AI ecosystem. They described Naver Financial as the country's leading mobile payment provider, with more than 34 million users and annual transactions exceeding 80 trillion won. This description provides context for the scale of the businesses involved in the deal, while regulatory approvals remain a condition for its completion.
Naver's presentation published in November 2025 valued Dunamu at about 15.1 trillion won and Naver Financial at about 4.9 trillion won. The presentation said completion of the deal was subject to regulatory approvals and also cited an earlier expectation that it would close in the first half of 2026. But Naver announced in March that it was moving the closing date to September 30, attributing the timetable revision to approval procedures and legal changes. By October 7, Chosunbiz reported that the Fair Trade Commission's review of the business combination application had not been announced. The available evidence contains no announcement of the review's outcome or confirmation of a completion date following the revised timetable.
The procedures cited by Dunamu include Fair Trade Commission approval of the business combination, along with steps related to a change in the largest shareholder at both companies. The company said that “government approvals and permits must be obtained, including approval of the business combination by the Korea Fair Trade Commission.” Naver said the timetable revision reflected “approval procedures and the status of related legal amendments” and was intended to allow for a more stable completion of the deal. According to Chosunbiz, the review of the business combination application had not been announced by October 7, making a timetable delay expected at the time. The next deal-related step remains the issuance of the required approvals and completion of the procedures, with no later date specified in the available evidence.