"Price Tag of 5 Trillion Won" ... Who Will Be the New Owner of eBay Korea?

Lotte-Shinsegae-MBK-SKT Four-Way Battle
Competition for 3rd Place in E-commerce Market... Last-Minute Bidding Tactics

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The main bidding for the sale to find a new owner of eBay Korea, which will reshape the domestic e-commerce market, will take place on the 7th.

The candidates participating in the main bidding on this day include Lotte Shopping, Shinsegae Group's E-Mart, the private equity fund MBK Partners, the largest shareholder of Homeplus, and SK Telecom.

Although they consider eBay Korea's valuation of around 5 trillion won to be 'excessive,' they are calculating the appropriate acquisition price until the last moment, as this is the final opportunity to instantly gain market dominance.

Last year, the domestic online market was fiercely contested in terms of transaction volume by Naver (26.8 trillion won), Coupang (20.9 trillion won), and eBay Korea (20 trillion won). Whoever acquires SKT, which owns 11st (10 trillion won), Lotte Group, which operates Lotte On (7.6 trillion won), or Shinsegae Group, which owns SSG.com (3.9 trillion won), can overturn the market and quickly rise as a strong player in e-commerce.

Industry insiders say that Lotte Shopping and E-Mart have been the most active in conducting due diligence on eBay Korea. It is expected that these two long-time rivals in the traditional offline retail market will fiercely compete for the online shopping market this time. In particular, since Shinsegae declared all-round cooperation with Naver by exchanging shares worth 250 billion won in March, attention is focused on whether they will jointly enter the main bidding for eBay Korea with Naver.

MBK Partners is analyzed to believe that acquiring eBay Korea after Homeplus can create synergy effects and increase the valuation when reselling later. SK Telecom, which has 11st as a subsidiary, is eyeing the acquisition of eBay Korea to accelerate its 'post-telecom' strategy.

An official from the distribution industry said, "Both Lotte Shopping and E-Mart are eager to acquire, but above all, they are anxious that eBay Korea should not fall into the hands of their rivals," adding, "Whoever acquires it can greatly expand their dominance in the e-commerce market, but concerns about the winner's curse, such as the huge valuation and additional investment burden, are also present."