Insights

Global platform capital is entering Korea's KRW 41 trillion-a-year food delivery market, changing the competitive landscape itself. Korea's food delivery transaction value reached KRW 41.5889 trillion in 2025, up 11.8% year on year. After explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic and a subsequent correction, the market has returned to growth, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. In this report, Samjong KPMG analyzes structural change and corporate response strategies in a market comprising the marketplace model, which intermediates orders between consumers and restaurants, and the own-delivery model.

Uber's acquisition of Delivery Hero disrupts the two-player structure. The market's biggest variable is Uber's agreement in July 2026 to acquire Delivery Hero, the parent company of Baemin. As a result, the standalone sale of Baemin that had been under way since May 2026 was halted, and Baemin is expected to remain within the Uber group. Uber holds an option to acquire an additional 5.6% through shares and financial instruments on top of its existing 19.5% interest, enabling it to become the largest shareholder. The merger, structured as a cash tender offer at EUR 41.50 per share, is expected to close in the second half of 2027. Upon completion, Uber would operate mobility and delivery businesses in 99 markets. Korea would then move beyond its existing two-player structure into a phase shaped by global capital and technology investment as well as merger review by the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

Korean trends — lock-in, diversification, and quick commerce. The report identifies four major domestic business trends: full-scale membership strategies to strengthen customer lock-in; diversification into commerce and advertising; maximization of consumer touchpoints through quick commerce; and intensifying competition among platforms to secure riders. Persistent disputes over commissions, regulatory risks, and changes to rules governing rider insurance and safety add further pressure. Globally, leading companies are competing to expand their ecosystems through M&A-led market restructuring and business diversification. The report concludes that Korean food delivery companies must look beyond platform market-share competition and find room for growth in ecosystems spanning commerce, logistics, and technology.

Implications for M&A. First, the Uber–Delivery Hero transaction ushers in an era in Korea's platform industry in which global-capital-led megascale cross-border M&A and merger review become critical variables in deal structuring. Second, competition to expand into quick commerce, logistics, and rider infrastructure is likely to stimulate bolt-on acquisitions of and equity investments in logistics service providers and delivery robotics and automation companies. Third, amid commission regulation and slowing growth, smaller platforms and vertical services with weakening competitiveness may become targets for market-restructuring transactions, including consolidation and sale.