EBay looking to sell South Korean unit: report
03/03/2020 12:41
SEOUL, March 3 (Reuters) - EBay Inc EBAY.O is looking to
sell its South Korean unit, which includes Gmarket, one of the
largest online marketplaces in the country, in a deal that could
fetch nearly $5 billion, a Seoul-based newspaper reported on
Tuesday.
The Korea Economic Daily, citing an unnamed industry
official, reported that eBay has decided to sell 100 percent of
its stake in eBay Korea.
Possible buyers include other South Korean retail giants
such as Lotte Shopping 023530.KS , Shinsegae 004170.KS , and
Hyundai Department Store Group, as well as private equity funds
like MBK, the country's largest private equity firm, the
newspaper reported.
EBay did not immediately respond to a request for comment,
and MBK representatives were not available for comment outside
business hours.
EBay bought Gmarket in 2009 for up to $1.2 billion, and
combined it with its South Korean unit, Internet Auction Co.
At the time, the combined companies accounted for 87% of the
country's online consumer-to-consumer market and more than 30%
of the Web shopping mall market, the Korean antitrust agency
said.
But Gmarket has faced new competitors, including
Softbank-backed 9434.T startup Coupang, which was founded in
2010 and has the largest e-commerce market share, according to
the South Korea B2C E-Commerce Market 2019 report.
(Reporting by Josh Smith, editing by Louise Heavens)
((JoshSmith1@thomsonreuters.com;))