Coupang refutes reports it has put Coupang Eats up for sale

Coupang e-commerce company got wind of reports that it is selling its Coupang Eats food delivery unit. This turned out to be a false claim after the company immediately dismissed the reports that have been making rounds in South Korea.

Based on the claims, Coupang is looking to get rid of its food delivery platform due to the market saturation on top of the tightening competition. However, company officials said earlier this week that this is not true at all, as per The Korea Times.

"The ongoing rumor that we are going to sell our business is not true," the official said. "Also, we cannot comment on any issues related to M&A deals. We have taken no measures to sell the service and Coupang will respond firmly against the industry and press concerning the spread of any rumors and falsehood, taking legal action, if necessary."

In truth, the company is only looking for a business partner for Coupang Eats due to driver shortage and the decline of its delivery services. Moreover, the aim now is to secure enough full-time workers to run the delivery platform smoothly.

At any rate, the rumor of the sale started when a local newspaper published an article saying that since April this year, when the local government eased the COVID-19 social distancing protocol, Coupang Eats has been continuously losing its customers. The report stated that this happened as people are starting to go out and dine in restaurants again instead of calling for food deliveries at home.

It was claimed that because of this situation, it was not able to beat its rival, Baedal Minjok or Baemin. Baedal Minjok prospered as it made investments to expand, according to the newspaper.

The Korea Herald further reported that as Coupang Eats is not earning as it should in the past few months, it will announce proposal bid requests soon. The paper went on to claim that there are already potential bidders for Coupang's delivery platform, and this includes some of the leading companies in South Korea, such as GS Retail, Shinsegae, and Lotte.

"Coupang Eats does not want to invest more in the domestic food delivery market which is already a red ocean," an official at a local food delivery said regarding the claims in the local paper. "The company has reportedly contacted local retail giants such as Lotte, Shinsegae and GS Retail to sell its business to them. I think the company knows it cannot show any more consecutive losses in its game of chicken against Baemin."