Two giants join forces! The final ownership of eBay Korea is in a war again

Naver and Shinsegae are reportedly teaming up to acquire eBay Korea , which was put up for sale earlier this year . South Korean IT giant Naver is understood to have approached retail giant Shinsegae with a proposal to jointly bid for eBay Korea.

The two companies are currently considering forming a consortium to acquire eBay Korea , South Korea's third-largest e-commerce company , which is currently valued at around $4.4 billion (about 5 trillion won ), according to South Korea's Economic Daily.

A source in the investment banking industry disclosed that if the deal between Naver and Shinsegae goes ahead, the latter may have priority to acquire a majority stake in eBay Korea. Naver may only own the remaining 20% ​​and agree to jointly manage the e-commerce venture.

South Korea's Shinsegae Department Store Group is one of the finalists to acquire eBay Korea, along with Lotte, private equity firm MBK Partners and SK Telecom.

But there are also reports that SK Telecom and MBK Partner are also considering collaborating on the deal, as Naver and Shinsegae Group are planning. The latter two companies are said to be trying to gain the upper hand over growing e-commerce companies like Coupang.

Naver and Shinsegae Group have already formed a strong alliance, and they began to cooperate to strengthen logistics and distribution businesses. The two companies are said to be further developing their joint venture to fight against Coupang, which has now become the main rival of Shinsegae and Naver .

In March , the Korea Business Daily reported that Naver purchased shares in Shinsegae International and E-Mart to strengthen its partnership with Shinsegae Group. Since then, the two companies have made plans for future new businesses in both online and offline operations.

Meanwhile, if Naver and Shinsegae eventually succeed in forming a consortium and win the race to acquire eBay Korea , they will undoubtedly become the biggest players in the Korean online retail market !

South Korea

eBay

Acquisition