Naver has stopped reviewing a possible purchase of a stake in Baedal Minjok. It made a final decision not to proceed about 4 months after reports in May said it was pursuing an acquisition of Baedal Minjok with Uber.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Naver said it had reviewed the purchase of a stake in Baedal Minjok but decided not to buy it due to changes in the business environment and other factors.

The filing is a definitive denial of reports raised in May that it was pursuing an acquisition of Baedal Minjok.

At the time, Seoul Economic Daily reported that Naver was pushing to acquire Baedal Minjok by forming a consortium with Uber. Baedal Minjok operator Woowa Brothers' largest shareholder is Germany's Delivery Hero (DH), and Woowa Brothers' sale price discussed in the market at the time was about 8 trillion won.

Soon after the report, Naver said it was reviewing various options to strengthen its business competitiveness and that nothing had been decided. It refiled in June saying the matter remained undecided and continued the review, but decided not to proceed in this definitive filing.

Naver's possible purchase of a stake in Baedal Minjok had been discussed for potential links to its commerce business. It was seen as a way to strengthen commerce competitiveness by combining Baedal Minjok's food delivery and logistics infrastructure with existing services such as Naver Shopping, Naver Plus membership and Naver Pay.

But the sale landscape surrounding Baedal Minjok changed while Naver was reviewing an acquisition.

On July 16, Uber signed a business combination agreement with DH and agreed to buy 100 percent of DH for a total of $14.8 billion (about 21.9 trillion won). The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2027 after regulatory approvals. Once the transaction is completed, Woowa Brothers, which is 100 percent owned by DH, will also be brought under Uber.

With the possibility of Naver buying a stake in Baedal Minjok being discussed, Uber moved to buy DH in full, changing the sale landscape itself. Naver did not separately explain the background to its withdrawal, and said it decided not to proceed due to "changes in the business environment and other factors."