Uber already holds a big piece of Delivery Hero. Now it wants the rest.
The talks center on buying Delivery Hero outright. Uber previously offered around €33 per share, but Delivery Hero's stock is currently trading at about €36 per share. A deal could come together this week. But nothing is final yet - discussions can still fall apart.
Food delivery boomed during Covid. People stayed home, ordered in, and companies like Delivery Hero and Uber Eats grew fast. Then restaurants reopened and that growth slowed hard.
On top of that, labor costs are rising. Increasing regulatory scrutiny of gig workers has made labor more expensive.
This explains the global consolidation underway in food delivery, spurred by decelerating expansion and fierce rivalry. DoorDash agreed to buy Deliveroo in the UK last year. Prosus acquired Just Eat Takeaway.com. Now Uber is pursuing Delivery Hero.
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Delivery Hero started a strategic review after pressure from its own shareholders. A hedge fund, Aspex Management, managed to remove founder Niklas Östberg from his role and has pushed for additional asset divestitures. That opened the door for a full buyout.
Regulators around the world will probably examine any such deal closely for antitrust concerns. Delivery Hero operates in more than 60 countries, and its operations overlap with Uber's in several European and Middle Eastern regions.
Delivery Hero's vast presence across Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America would complement Uber Eats' current footprint in Europe and the Americas. A merger would create a global food delivery giant with a combined market share far exceeding most rivals, making the strategic rationale behind Uber's bid clear.
Uber is not the only one interested in parts of Delivery Hero. DoorDash and Ninja, a Saudi Arabian firm, are both interested in buying either a portion or the entirety of Delivery Hero's Middle Eastern business.
The food delivery industry has entered a phase of consolidation as growth rates have flattened post-pandemic. Delivery Hero's sprawling network across emerging markets, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, gives Uber a direct route into fast-growing regions where Uber Eats has limited presence. At the same time, Delivery Hero's shareholders have grown impatient with the company's profitability timeline.
This environment made a full takeover more palatable to Delivery Hero's board. Any final agreement will require regulatory approvals in multiple jurisdictions, given the combined entity's market power in countries like Germany, the UAE, and South Korea.
The proposed acquisition also reflects Uber's broader strategy to consolidate its food delivery business globally, reducing overlap and achieving economies of scale in technology, logistics, and marketing.
Spokespeople for Uber and Prosus did not respond to requests for comment. Delivery Hero's spokesperson was not available for immediate comment.
The food delivery sector's merger wave reflects a strategic push for scale amid rising costs and stagnant demand.
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