Naver says no decision has been made on acquisition of Baemin

Naver-delivery app acquisition

Naver says no decision has been made on acquisition of Baemin

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- Naver Corp. said Tuesday it has yet to reach a decision on the acquisition of the operator of leading food delivery app Baedal Minjok.

The announcement follows recent media reports that claimed the company is seeking to take control of the delivery app through a consortium with Uber.

"The company is exploring various options to strengthen business competitiveness, but no specific decisions have been made for the time being," Naver announced via a regulatory filing.

Naver said it plans to notify related details within one month should a decision be made, according to the filing.

The notice came after a local media outlet said Naver expressed intent to form a 20-80 consortium with the ride hailing app Uber to acquire Woowa Brothers Corp., the operator of South Korea's largest food delivery platform, Baedal Minjok, or Baemin.

The two companies reportedly proposed purchasing the entire stake in Woowa Brothers for 8 trillion won (US$5.37 billion) from Delivery Hero, a German online delivery platform.

The German company is reportedly seeking to sell Woowa Brothers and is said to have appointed JP Morgan Chase & Co. as the sales adviser.

Delivery Hero acquired an 87 percent stake in Woowa Brothers for about $4 billion in 2019 and is said to be seeking around 8 trillion won for the sale.

The logo of Naver Corp. provided by the company (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)