Uber agrees $14.8bn deal to buy Delivery Hero

Deal includes the bulk of Delivery Hero’s global business comprising 50 markets

Uber has agreed a deal with German delivery company Delivery Hero. Photograph: RJeff Chiu/AP
Uber has agreed a deal with German delivery company Delivery Hero. Photograph: RJeff Chiu/AP

Uber Technologies has agreed to buy Delivery Hero in a deal that values the German food-delivery company at $14.8 billion.

Uber offered to pay €41.50 ($47.60) a share, and will acquire the bulk of Delivery Hero’s global business comprising 50 markets, the company said in a statement on Thursday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report.

It’s buying out significant Delivery Hero shareholder, Amsterdam-listed Prosus, as part of the deal.

As part of the deal, investment firm SSW Partners will acquire 14 markets for about $1.6 billion. SSW will find buyers for the assets, which include units in Austria, Norway, Spain, and Sweden, separately.

The food delivery market, which boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic and spawned dozens of players, has been rapidly consolidating in recent years. Uber has been making acquisitions overseas to strengthen its position internationally, where hometown rivals like DoorDash are making similar moves. DoorDash agreed to buy the UK’s Deliveroo last year, while Prosus struck a deal to acquire Just Eat Takeaway.com.

Delivery Hero has been conducting a strategic review following pressure from shareholders, which include Aspex Management, the hedge fund that succeeded in ousting founder Niklas Östberg and has lobbied for more asset sales. - Bloomberg

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