Last month, Investment banks sent out letters to potential buyers, including some of the country’s top retailers and tech firms, Korea Times reports.

Preliminary bidding kicks off March 16; private equity firm MBK Partners and tech company Kakao have reportedly also expressed interest.

eBay Korea, which owns local platforms GMarket (acquired for $1.2 billion in 2009), Auction and G9, was put up for sale in January. The firm, which is wholly owned by eBay’s UK subsidiary and reportedly boasts a 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) price tag, makes up 11 percent of eBay’s total revenues and accounted for 12 percent of the country’s e-commerce transactions last year, according to Statistics Korea.

As e-tailers like Coupang and Naver assert their dominance over South Korea’s growing e-commerce industry, traditional retail businesses are digitising to keep up. While Shinsegae operates multiple e-commerce channels in addition to its brick-and-mortar stores, an open market platform would round out its online portfolio. Meanwhile, Lotte has struggled to grow its online presence.