This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 10:26 a.m. on May 15, 2026.
Germany's Delivery Hero (DH) is pushing to sell Woowa Brothers, operator of Baemin, and it is understood that domestic and foreign strategic investors (SI) including Uber, Naver, and Alibaba have appointed law firms and are conducting due diligence. Because the transaction size is being discussed at up to around 8 trillion won, the pool of realistically capable buyers is limited, and the sell-side is said to be proceeding with a limited competitive bidding process targeting a small number of potential bidders rather than a public auction.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 15th, domestic large corporations Naver and global comprehensive transportation service company Uber, as well as China's IT company Alibaba, are conducting due diligence to acquire Baemin. Some candidates are said to have continued due diligence since two months ago.
DH acquired an 87% equity stake in Woowa Brothers in 2019 for about 4.75 trillion won. Since then, Woowa Brothers has functioned as a "cash cow" for DH. It is understood that the amount Woowa Brothers returned to DH over the past three years through dividends and buybacks and cancellations of treasury shares exceeds 1.4 trillion won.
The background to DH reviewing the sale of Woowa Brothers is interpreted as pressure to reorganize its companywide portfolio and improve its capital structure. DH said in a year-end letter to shareholders last year that it was conducting a strategic review of its portfolio, capital allocation, and cost structure, and earlier this year it appointed JPMorgan as the lead manager for the sale of Woowa Brothers. If the sale goes through, DH could secure large-scale liquidity in a short period.
BAE, KIM & LEE LLC is understood to be serving as legal counsel for the sell-side of Woowa Brothers. BAE, KIM & LEE LLC also advised when DH acquired Woowa Brothers in 2019. On the buy-side, large law firms including KIM&CHANG, Shin & Kim LLC, and Lee & Ko are said to be assisting each bidder.
In the market, there is also talk that Uber and Naver could form a consortium to join the bidding. Uber is cited as a strong candidate with a strong will to expand its mobility and delivery platform influence in the Korean market. Given that it even reviewed the possibility of acquiring Kakao Mobility in the past, there is an assessment that it could move the most aggressively in this bidding war.
Naver has room to combine delivery services with its existing platforms such as maps, commerce, and membership, but many view that it will not be easy in practical terms to simultaneously pursue the acquisition of Baemin while it is pushing for the merger of Dunamu and Naver Financial.
Opinions in the market are divided over the price level of 8 trillion won being discussed as the sale price. That is because the growth rate of the domestic delivery market has slowed compared with the past, and fee regulations and platform monopoly issues still remain variables. Given the large transaction size, the pool of acquirers is limited, and there is also an assessment that it will not be easy to clearly present a plan to recoup the investment after the acquisition.