eBay Looks to Buy Korea’s Gmarket

Online auction site eBay has offered to buy South Korean online retailer Gmarket for up to $1.2bn. The offer price of $24 per share is a 20.2% increase on Gmarket’s most recent closing price of $19.96. eBay said it had acquired 67% in the Korean firm, after Yahoo and Interpark agreed to sell their Gmarket stakes. The news comes a day after eBay said it was looking to spin off internet call service provider Skype and list shares in the firm in the first half of 2010