eBay has proposed an offer to buy Gmarket, an online retailer based in South Korea. The acquisition will make the 'net-based auction house the leader in the world's sixth-largest e-commerce market.

Gmarket manages customer-to-customer marketplaces — think craigslist — and serves over 10 million registered users in South Korea. eBay already owns a market rival in the field, Internet Auction Co.

But the companies focus on different things: Gmarket on fashion, and Internet Auction on electronics and sports goods. Pending a successful transaction, eBay stated plans to combine these forces.

Interpark and Yahoo, which own 29% and 10% in Gmarket, respectively, agreed to a cash tender offer from eBay and will sell their shares. Interpark's stake is going for $350 million, and a source close to the matter said Yahoo would sell its stake for $120 million in proceeds, as well as a $52 million pre-tax gain.

This represents a tender price of $24 per share — 20.2% above Gmarket's current market rate, $19.96 per share. Total purchasing price will be around $1.2 billion.

The deal will likely close in the present quarter, with Gmarket shares delisting from the NASDAQ upon completion.

eBay has already received conditional approval from the Korean antitrust agency, despite calculations that the liaison will result in Gmarket and Internet Auction controlling 87% of South Korea's online customer-to-customer market — and over 30% of the web shopping mall market.

Forecasts project eBay will lean heavily on its Paypal business for growth this year. The company recently cut one of its 2007 acquisitions, StumbleUpon, out of the herd.

This week eBay also announced plans to spin its Skype internet phone service off in an IPO, slated for 2010.