Check out the four preliminary bidders eyeing eBay Korea

Major players are seeking M&As to survive in the country’s e-commerce sector.

SK Telecom, Lotte Group, Shinsegae affiliate Emart, and Homeplus’ top shareholder MBK Partners have submitted preliminary bids to buy eBay Korea in a deal that could fetch $4.42b (KRW5t), Yonhap reported based on statements from industry sources.

The preliminary bids for eBay Korea, which operates major online shopping sites, including Gmarket, Auction and G9, came as major players are seeking merger and acquisition and business cooperation to survive in the country's e-commerce and retail sectors.

Annual transactions on eBay Korea's online shopping sites reached $17.78b (KRW20t) in 2020. The value of annual e-commerce transactions on Naver was estimated at $24b (KRW27t) won last year.

Lotte is seeking to boost its online mall Lotte ON, and Shinsegae wants to expand its online mall SSG.Com. SK Telecom, the operator of online mall 11Street, also wants to tighten its grip on the e-commerce market, industry sources said.