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Uber, Naver bid $5.3b for S Korea’s Baemin
Uber and Naver submitted a bid of up to 8 trillion won (US$5.34 billion) to buy Baedal Minjok, South Korea’s largest food delivery platform owned by Germany’s Delivery Hero.
Uber and Naver, a South Korean internet company, formed an 8-to-2 consortium and are seeking to acquire all of Baemin.
The company had received a teaser letter related to the deal but nothing had been decided, said a Naver spokesperson.
🔗 Source: Reuters
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Delivery Hero may sell Baemin as debt pressure builds
- Baemin, short for Baedal Minjok, is owned by Germany’s Delivery Hero, an online food delivery company. Delivery Hero is weighing a sale during a portfolio review 1.
- Baemin is not a weak business. It is one of three profitable platforms in Delivery Hero’s global portfolio and posted a record operating profit in 2024 2, 3.
- The push to sell appears tied to cash needs. Delivery Hero faces debt maturities starting in 2027, with much of the strain linked to convertible bonds, a type of debt that can turn into shares 4.
- Since buying Baemin in 2019 and taking full ownership in 2021, Delivery Hero has pulled about US$700 million from the company through dividends and share sales 4.
Uber and Naver aim at Coupang with Baemin
- For Uber, the deal would mark another try in South Korea’s food delivery market after it shut down Uber Eats there in 2019 5.
- The 80-20 split with Naver is meant to cut Fair Trade Commission merger risk. The buyer group would keep Naver at 19.9%, below the 20% reporting line for large business groups under Korea’s Fair Trade Act 5.
- The partnership is aimed at Coupang, South Korea’s leading ecommerce company. Its Rocket Delivery service puts pressure on Naver’s plan to build an Amazon-like platform 5.
- A deal would sharpen the fight in last-mile logistics, the final step of getting goods to customers. That would put Uber Eats, through Baemin, against Coupang Eats 5.
