Dunamu and Naver Financial delay stock-swap deal to March 2027

The marriage between South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange operator and one of the country’s largest tech groups has a new wedding date. Again.

Dunamu, which runs the Upbit exchange, and Naver Financial have pushed the closing of their share-swap deal to March 31, 2027. That makes this the third postponement of a transaction first announced in November 2025.

The companies made the announcement on October 7, 2026. The previous target was December 31, 2026, so the deal has now slipped by another quarter.

What changed, and what didn’t

The new timeline comes with a reshuffled calendar. Extraordinary shareholder meetings have moved to February 26, 2027.

The record date, which determines which shareholders get to vote and participate, now sits at January 18, 2027. The window for shareholders to exercise appraisal rights runs from February 26 to March 18, 2027.

Appraisal rights matter here. They let shareholders who oppose the deal demand that the company buy back their shares instead of accepting the swap.

One thing stayed put: the price. The exchange ratio remains fixed at 2.5422618 Naver Financial shares for every Dunamu share.

The structure is a comprehensive share swap. Once complete, Dunamu would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Naver Financial.

To pull it off, Naver Financial plans to issue approximately 87.56 million new shares. Those shares are valued at around 15.13 trillion won, which gives a sense of the scale involved.

Why the deal keeps slipping

The companies point to ongoing regulatory reviews and the complexity of the transaction.

One of those hurdles is the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the country’s competition watchdog, whose review has stretched the schedule.

The other moving piece is legislation. South Korea’s Digital Asset Framework Act has brought legislative changes that touch the deal, and those changes have contributed to the repeated delays.

There is also a longer-range plan attached. Naver Financial intends to set up an IPO committee within a year after the deal closes. When an actual listing would happen remains unspecified.

The bigger picture for Naver and Upbit

For Naver, the logic is about building out its digital finance business. Bringing in Dunamu would give the group direct ownership of the operator behind South Korea’s leading crypto exchange.

For Dunamu, joining Naver Financial would mean operating inside a much larger corporate structure.

What this means

For shareholders of both companies, the practical takeaway is the calendar. The January 18, 2027 record date and the February 26 to March 18 appraisal window are the dates that determine who votes and who can opt out for cash.

The fixed exchange ratio cuts both ways. It offers certainty on terms, but it also means neither side can renegotiate if business conditions shift during the extra months of waiting.

The key things to watch are the outcome of the Korea Fair Trade Commission review and further developments around the Digital Asset Framework Act. Either one could determine whether March 31, 2027 holds or becomes the setup for a fourth delay.

Watch, too, for any movement on the IPO committee. Naver Financial has only committed to forming one within a year of closing, so a public listing remains a distant prospect that depends entirely on the swap getting done first.