Delivery Hero Inks $4B Asian Start-Up Deal

Delivery Hero said it would use the US$4 billion acquisition of a South Korean food delivery start-up as a platform to take on the country’s biggest ecommerce retailer Coupang as the German group seeks to expand in Asia, reported the Financial Times. 

Berlin-based Delivery Hero wants to take over Woowa Brothers, the company behind Baemin, South Korea’s most popular food delivery app, in what would be one of the country’s biggest acquisitions involving an internet group. But the deal has drawn opposition in Seoul from smaller delivery operators and some ruling party politicians.

 If it is successful, Delivery Hero, which already owns Baemin’s main rival, Yogiyo, would control about 90% per cent of the online food delivery market.

Niklas Ostberg, Delivery Hero’s chief executive, sought to allay antitrust concerns, saying the deal would mean greater competition in the broader ecommerce market for Coupang, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank and considered the Amazon of South Korea. 

“I think this is great for consumers, essentially we are creating another competitor to Coupang, making sure we deliver faster than Coupang, which will force Coupang to deliver faster . . . We started already with groceries, but we want to go broader than that, to expand to anything that can be delivered quickly,” Mr Ostberg said in an interview.

Full Content: Financial Times

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