Shinsegae-led consortium wins eBay Korea bidding

This will mark the largest M&A deal in the country in H2 2021.

A Shinsegae-led consortium has been picked as the preferred bidder for eBay Korea, beating its local rival Lotte Shopping, Yonhap reported based on industry sources.

The Shinsegae-Naver consortium reportedly offered some $4b (KRW4t) to take over the Korean unit of the second-largest e-commerce player in the US. Naver, the country's top internet portal operator, will fund 20% of the bidding price, according to the sources.

The announcement came after eBay's board discussed the issue in the US. Shinsegae and eBay Korea will continue negotiating the details of the deal, which will mark the largest merger and acquisition (M&A) in the country in the second half of the year.

The Korean unit of eBay runs e-commerce platforms, such as Gmarket and Auction. Shinsegae and Lotte Shopping have competed to buy eBay Korea since the third-largest e-commerce operator was put on the selling block last January.

Lotte and Shinsegae's market shares in the country's e-commerce sector are estimated at 5% and 3%, respectively. Meanwhile, eBay Korea takes up about 12% of South Korea's e-commerce market after Naver's 18% and Coupang's 13%