Overview
- Local media in South Korea reported Tuesday that Uber and Naver proposed about 8 trillion won, or roughly US$5.3 billion, to buy Woowa Brothers, which runs the Baemin food delivery app, in a consortium split about 80% to 20%.
- Naver said in a Tuesday regulatory filing that no decision has been made on a purchase and it will provide an update within one month.
- Delivery Hero, which controls Woowa Brothers, has hired JPMorgan as sales adviser and has circulated materials to potential buyers, according to Korean press reports.
- Delivery Hero said Uber lifted its stake to 19.5% with options for an additional 5.6%, making Uber its largest shareholder, and media reports said Uber does not plan to raise that stake to 30%.
- Any deal would test regulators and could reset competition with Coupang Eats, since Baemin leads the market with about 23.41 million monthly users and a new owner could change prices, promotions, and delivery options for customers and restaurants.