Uber Technologies became the largest shareholder in Germany's Delivery Hero on May 18, 2026, disclosing a 19.5% stake — plus options for an additional 5.6% — in a move that gives the ride-hailing giant a blocking minority over the German parent of South Korea's dominant food delivery app, Baemin. That same day, Delivery Hero's founding CEO Niklas Östberg confirmed he would leave by March 31, 2027, putting a lame-duck leader in charge of a company now navigating one of its largest asset sales. One day later, Naver issued a regulatory clarification disclosing it was reviewing a potential Baemin acquisition alongside Uber — a soft non-denial that confirmed the outline of a consortium that could reshape South Korea's food delivery market.
Stake-Building Timeline: From 7% to Blocking Minority in One Month
Uber's accumulation of Delivery Hero shares moved fast. In April 2026, Uber purchased a 4.5% stake from Dutch technology investor Prosus for approximately €270 million ($318 million), paying €20 per share — a 22% premium to the one-month average price. Prosus was not selling voluntarily: the European Commission had required it to cut its Delivery Hero stake below 10% as a condition of approving Prosus's €4.1 billion acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway. Uber stepped in as the willing buyer, and by May 18 had moved from roughly 7% to 19.5%, with options adding a further 5.6%. Reuters calculated Uber's total position at approximately €1.7 billion.
The combined 25.1% effective stake — direct holdings plus options — gives Uber what financial analysts describe as a blocking minority: effective control over critical shareholder votes at Delivery Hero without crossing the 30% threshold that would trigger a mandatory tender offer to all remaining shareholders under German law. Uber stated in its regulatory filing that it "does not currently intend" to cross that threshold, preserving maximum flexibility. Delivery Hero shares closed 5.6% higher on the day of the announcement.
Activist Pressure and CEO Departure Shape Sale Dynamics
The ownership shift is unfolding against an acute leadership crisis. Östberg, who co-founded Delivery Hero in 2011, announced on May 12 that he would step down following an intensifying campaign by Hong Kong-based activist investor Aspex Management, which raised its stake to approximately 15% and had been pushing for a full strategic overhaul. Östberg will remain in post to lead the ongoing strategic review and related asset sale processes — including the Woowa Brothers sale — until a successor is found, with the supervisory board aiming to conclude the search by year-end 2026.
The arrangement creates unusual incentive dynamics: the executive most familiar with Woowa Brothers and Baemin is managing their sale while under activist pressure and counting the months until departure. Aspex Management said it "supported the CEO transition announced by Delivery Hero, as well as the company's ongoing strategic review aimed at enhancing shareholder value."
Uber-Naver Consortium Bids for Woowa Brothers at $5.3B Valuation
Delivery Hero engaged JPMorgan to run a sale process for Woowa Brothers Corp., the Korean entity that operates Baemin, and distributed teaser letters to strategic investors including Uber, Naver, Alibaba Group, and DoorDash. The asking price is approximately 8 trillion won, equivalent to roughly $5.3–5.4 billion — more than the roughly $4 billion Delivery Hero paid for an 88% stake in 2019.
Industry and banking sources reported on May 19 that Uber and Naver had already submitted a letter of intent for the acquisition under a structure in which Uber would hold approximately 70% and Naver 30%. Naver's official clarification — "We are reviewing various options to strengthen business competitiveness, but nothing has been specifically decided at this time" — neither confirmed nor denied the bid's existence.
Woowa Brothers posted revenue of 5.28 trillion won in 2025, its first time exceeding 5 trillion won, representing 22% growth. But operating profit fell 7% to 592.9 billion won, extending a multi-year decline. Baemin's profitability has eroded as Coupang Eats, backed by Coupang's subscription program, aggressively expanded its user base. As of March 2026, Baemin led with 24.09 million monthly active users versus 13.55 million for Coupang Eats — but Coupang Eats had nearly doubled its user count over the preceding 18 months.
KFTC Review Presents Biggest Regulatory Variable
A completed Uber-Naver deal would require merger notification and review by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) as well as a foreign investment filing. Under South Korean law, a business group acquiring 20% or more of another company's total outstanding shares must report the transaction for review.
Ju Jin-yeol, a law professor at Pusan National University, offered a measured assessment. Because neither Uber nor Naver directly operates a food delivery business in Korea, the transaction would most likely be treated as a conglomerate merger rather than a horizontal one, and conglomerate mergers typically face a lower bar under Korean antitrust analysis. However, he cautioned that the KFTC could still block the deal if it concluded competition would be meaningfully restricted — particularly given Naver's dominant position across search, mapping, commerce, and payments in Korea.
The KFTC has precedent in this space: it previously blocked Delivery Hero's attempt to merge Baemin and Yogiyo and required Delivery Hero to divest Yogiyo to satisfy antitrust conditions. Naver's strategy, according to Korean platform industry sources, involves keeping its ownership below 20% specifically to reduce the likelihood of a prolonged antitrust review.
Parent Stake as Regulatory Hedge
Uber's parent-company stake provides a parallel path that bypasses the KFTC entirely. As a major shareholder of Delivery Hero, Uber can influence Baemin's strategy and governance at the parent level — shaping pricing, partnerships, and operational direction — without owning a Korean company directly. This structure sidesteps the foreign investment scrutiny and antitrust review that a direct acquisition triggers.
That approach carries its own limits. Uber holds no board seat at Delivery Hero and has declined to comment beyond its regulatory filing. Its ability to influence Baemin operations through a German parent — which also manages platforms across 60-plus countries — remains indirect. Observers who spoke to Korean financial media noted that Uber is aware of the regulatory complexity and may prefer to build influence through multiple positions simultaneously rather than commit to a single acquisition path.
Delivery Hero's European Antitrust Record Adds Context
Delivery Hero's conduct in its European markets offers context for how it manages dominant market positions. The European Commission fined Delivery Hero and its Spanish subsidiary Glovo a combined €329 million in 2025 for a cartel that included market-sharing, exchange of commercially sensitive information, and non-solicitation agreements across the European Economic Area — the first time the Commission had sanctioned cartel activity in the labor market. Delivery Hero cooperated with the investigation and received a 10% discount on its fine for doing so.
What Baemin's 24 Million Users Could Expect
For Baemin's 24 million monthly users and the restaurants and delivery workers who depend on the platform, the outcome of these negotiations carries material consequences. An Uber-Naver combination would likely integrate Baemin discounts with Naver Plus membership benefits, link the platform to Naver's search and payments ecosystem, and potentially introduce Uber Eats operational capabilities. Whether that translates into lower fees, faster delivery, or higher costs for restaurants cannot yet be determined — but Uber's global pattern involves consolidating delivery operations with its ride-hailing network rather than running delivery as a standalone business.
The asking price of 8 trillion won, which multiple Korean industry officials described as steep for a sector where profitability is declining, suggests the final deal — if one closes — may require the price to come down. "Whether a deal ultimately happens will likely depend on whether the asking price comes down," one Korean industry official told the Korea Herald.
ⓒ 2026 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
