This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 1:30 p.m. on May 15, 2026.
Global ride-hailing platform Uber is said to be simultaneously considering acquiring Baemin and securing management control of Kakao Mobility, drawing attention to the investment rationale. The market sees Uber's move as a strategy to secure both a delivery and mobility platform in Korea at once to expand its foothold in the lifestyle platform market. However, some say a key variable will be the Korea Fair Trade Commission's merger review.
According to the investment bank (IB) industry on the 15th, Germany's Delivery Hero (DH) recently appointed JPMorgan as lead manager and is exploring the potential sale of Baemin. During this process, Uber was reported to have begun reviewing an acquisition. However, it has not yet entered a full-fledged acquisition process.
The industry believes Uber's strategy to expand its platform business in the Korean market has become clear. Uber had no success in the delivery market. It pulled Uber Eats out of Korea in 2019. In the taxi-hailing market, it has struggled to expand due to Kakao Mobility, which holds more than a 90% share. For this reason, rather than growing its share organically, acquiring the No. 1 player already established in the market could be more efficient.
A source in the IB industry said, "Because Uber has so little presence in the Korean market, the global headquarters has consistently ordered it to 'penetrate the market even by acquiring another company,'" and added, "That is why it pursued an acquisition of Kakao Mobility, and the Baemin acquisition should be seen in a similar context."
Data asset is also an important investment point. Baemin holds food order and commercial district data, and Kakao Mobility holds taxi-hailing and mobility data. As both companies are the No. 1 players in their respective markets, they have accumulated information on user behavior and consumption patterns. For foreign platform corporations, it is a foundation to understand the Korean market in a short period and expand services.
Shifts in the competitive landscape of the platform market are also cited as a backdrop. Platform corporations such as DoorDash and Grab are strengthening an integrated platform strategy that combines delivery, mobility, and membership. It is a method of tying movement, food delivery, and subscription benefits into a single ecosystem. Uber's concurrent review of Baemin and Kakao Mobility aligns with this trend.
Uber is also said to be considering forming a consortium with Naver for the Baemin acquisition. Uber and Naver have already built a cooperative relationship. Since last year, Uber has offered Uber One, its paid membership service, as a benefit to Naver Plus Membership users. The market interprets the review of a Baemin acquisition as an extension of the existing partnership.
Some also say that if Uber collaborates with Naver on the Baemin acquisition, it could partially ease concerns about a foreign platform's encroachment into the domestic market. A structure in which a foreign company again acquires the No. 1 domestic delivery platform could lead to public backlash. In this situation, the participation of Naver, a domestic platform operator, in the consortium could reduce the burden.
However, it is uncertain whether it will lead to an actual acquisition. The biggest variable is the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC)'s merger review. Given that a domestic platform with market dominance would again be placed under foreign capital, the FTC is highly likely to scrutinize the deal. An industry source explained, "It is structured as U.S. capital acquiring a German company, but there is no difference in that foreign capital holds market dominance."
There is also a view that forming a consortium with Naver may not sufficiently reduce regulatory burdens. As a structure in which Uber and Naver invest at a 7-to-3 ratio is being discussed, Uber is likely to hold effective management control. An industry source said, "The FTC has recently shown a strict stance in merger reviews in the platform and rental sectors," adding, "In terms of difficulty, acquiring Baemin and acquiring Kakao Mobility are not very different."