A consortium led by GS Retail Co., the supermarket operating unit of GS Group, has acquired Yogiyo, the No. 2 online food delivery app in South Korea, for 800 billion won ($684.3 million), the retailer said Friday.

The consortium, including Affinity Equity Partners and Permira, has reached the deal with Germany's Delivery Hero for the acquisition of a 100 percent stake in Yogiyo, according to the retailer.

GS Retail said it will take over 30 percent of the share worth 240 billion won and pay an additional 60 billion won for the planned capital increase worth 200 billion won.

The company said it has decided to join the consortium to buy the country's second-biggest delivery application in a bid to create synergy by integrating its 16,000 retail outlets, including convenience stores, with Yogiyo's online delivery business.

South Korea's antitrust watchdog has required Delivery Hero to sell Yogyio by early next year after it bought a controlling stake in Woowa Brothers, the operator of the country's top delivery app Baedal Minjok, or Baemin, two years ago.

The South Korean food delivery app market, valued at 10 trillion won last year, has undergone explosive growth amid the pandemic, as more people refrained from dining out on concerns regarding virus infections. (Yonhap)