South Korea-based e-commerce company Ticket Monster (TMon) closed $40m of funding from gaming and entertainment company NHN Entertainment (NHNE) yesterday.
The transaction is the first close of a $300m funding round that is expected to continue into autumn, according to the Wall Street Journal, which also revealed that NHNE acquired a 3% stake.
Founded in 2010, Ticket Monster operates a mobile e-commerce platform that focuses on discounted products from some 91,000 merchants.
The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a strategic partnership that will involve NHNE promoting its payment service, Payco, through Ticket Monster. They will also collaborate on research to improve online shopping.
The deal follows investment firm KKR and private equity firm Anchor Equity Partners’ acquisition of a controlling stake in Ticket Monster from daily deals provider Groupon in April 2015. Groupon retains a 41% minority stake.
Groupon itself had acquired Ticket Monster from e-commerce company LivingSocial for $260m in 2013, two years after LivingSocial bought Ticket Monster for an undisclosed sum.
Daniel Shin, CEO of Ticket Monster, said, “TMon will live up to NHNE’s faith in our potential for growth and innovation. With NHN Entertainment’s unmatched expertise in IT infrastructure management, we will revolutionise TMon’s commerce platform to ultimately offer customers the best shopping experience.”