Shinsegae, Lotte abandon bids for Yogiyo acquisition

Shinsegae is said to have withdrawn its bid to acquire Yogiyo. The bidding is already in the final stage, and the retailer giant backed out at the last minute.

The bidding turned competition for PEFs

With its decision to buy the delivery platform from Delivery Hero, the bidding race is now between the remaining groups that are all private equity firms or PEFs.

As per The Korea Times, three PEFs took part in the final bidding, and these are MBK Partners, Permira, and Affinity Equity Partners. They joined the bid before Delivery Hero postponed the deadline for the final bid last Thursday.

It was mentioned that aside from Shinsegae, Bain Capital, another PEF, was on the shortlist for the Yogiyo acquisition as they participated in the preliminary bidding on June 10. Lotte Group was initially on the list, too but withdrew from the race early on. Based on the report, Lotte’s move shows that it has no interest in the cash-intensive deal.

"We thoroughly reviewed the possibility of creating synergy through integrating retail and delivery platforms,” Shinsegae’s spokesperson said on Wednesday, June 30. “However, we decided not to participate in the final bid. We will continue to review various platforms with growth potential."

Morgan Stanley, the underwriter for the Yogiyo acquisition deal, is reportedly meeting with all the potential buyers. It has met up with them separately, and Delivery Hero will request another postponement of the deal from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) because it is not possible to close any deal at this rate.

The company will try to get approval to postpone the Aug. 2 deadline that was set by the FTC for the deal. The sale can’t be arranged in a month’s time, so it is hoped that the FTC will consider the request for another delay.

Shinsegae and Lotte gives up Yogiyo takeover

Yonhap News Agency reported that Shinsegae and Lotte Group are definitely out of the race now for Yogiyo’s deal. They were originally seen as the most viable bidders but not anymore.

It is not a loss for Shinsegae anyway as it just acquired eBay Korea through its retail unit, Emart. This is probably one of the reasons why it decided to let go of Yogiyo’s bid.