이 기사는 2021년 06월 09일 07시54분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

MBK Partners is taking a cautious approach to making a final bid for the South Korean operations of US ecommerce giant eBay, with the private equity firm seemingly open to teaming up with a strategic buyer.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which are managing the sale of eBay Korea, received binding offers from Shinsegae and Lotte on Monday, industry sources said. Meanwhile, MBK Partners and SK Telecom, which were also among the shortlisted bidders, did not submit their bids.

Although MBK Partners didn’t make a binding offer in time, it doesn’t seem to have decided to withdraw from the race. There is a possibility that the firm could submit its bid belatedly after further deliberation.

MBK Partners, which is the only private equity bidder for eBay Korea, may have participated in the bidding process because of the multi-billion size of the deal amid a scarce supply of large deals in the first half of this year, industry watchers said.

Despite headwinds created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the North Asia-focused private equity firm has continued to build up portfolios in China and Japan over the past year, completing several big deals including the acquisitions of China’s rental car company CAR Inc and Japan’s nursing homes company Tsukui Holdings.

In contrast, MBK Partners has been focusing on add-on investments in South Korea in this period, with no large-scale deals announced by the firm since its 1.38 trillion won ($1.24 billion) takeover of Lotte Card in 2019.

Ebay Korea’s ecommerce platform, which has a sizable share in the market, could create synergy with Homeplus, one of MBK Partners’ portfolio companies, as the discount store chain has been ramping up efforts to expand online retail channels in line with a shift in shopping behavior.

Retail conglomerates Shinsegae and Lotte have set their sights on eBay Korea to catch up with emerging online retailers such as Coupang in the burgeoning ecommerce market, and probably for the same reason, MBK Partners has studied the company in a due diligence process.

The firm could be still weighing pros and cons of acquiring the company, industry watchers said. Apart from the expected acquisition costs of more than 3 trillion won – which will be paid entirely to eBay Korea’s parent company – the buyer will likely need to invest additional capital in the target to help it increase enterprise value. Private equity firms, which need to sell assets within a certain period to return capital to investors, have to consider a scenario in which synergy benefits fall short of the total invested capital.

“Ebay Korea, with a price tag of trillions of won, would have attracted interest from MBK Partners, which is sitting on a large amount of unspent capital,” said an industry insider. “But the firm may have not been convinced yet to submit a binding offer after considering several aspects.” (Reporting by Hee-yeon Han)