Naver backs out of eBay Korea acquisition bid

This leaves Shinsegae as the sole bidder for the e-commerce firm.

South Korea’s internet portal operator, Naver, has dropped out of the acquisition process for eBay Korea, leaving Shinsegae Group as the sole bidder for the South Korean unit of the US e-commerce giant, Yonhap reported.

Last week, a consortium led by Shinsegae, including Naver, had been reportedly chosen as the preferred bidder to take over eBay Korea for an amount estimated at around $4b (KRW4t), beating out local rival Lotte Shopping.

The online portal giant said in a regulatory filing that although it had considered buying a partial stake in eBay Korea to strengthen its business, it ultimately decided against taking part in the acquisition process.

The move leaves Shinsegage as the sole bidder for eBay Korea. The former has been reportedly working on detailed terms of the deal.