Uber nears Delivery Hero acquisition as food delivery consolidation accelerates

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Uber nears Delivery Hero acquisition

Highlights

Uber is set to acquire Delivery Hero for approximately €41 a share, with an announcement possible as early as Thursday, though terms remain subject to change.
The transaction splits Delivery Hero’s business, with Yemeksepeti and several European units to be sold to a U.S. investment firm to reduce competition concerns.
Uber controls 24.99 per cent of Delivery Hero’s voting rights, strengthening its foothold ahead of the deal and avoiding thresholds that trigger additional regulatory scrutiny.

Deal structure and timetable

As first reported by the Financial Times, Delivery Hero is set to be acquired by Uber for roughly €41 a share, with an announcement expected as early as Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter. People close to the discussions caution that the terms and timing are not finalised and could still change.

The planned transaction splits Delivery Hero's business, with Yemeksepeti in Turkey and several European operations expected to be sold to a U.S. investment firm. That structure is intended to reduce the geographic overlap between Uber and Delivery Hero that could otherwise draw closer competition scrutiny.

Uber has been in talks with Delivery Hero since May, when chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi first approached the board with an offer of €33 a share, valuing the group at roughly €10bn. The company has since built a sizeable holding in Delivery Hero, buying €270mn of shares from Prosus in April and adding to that position the following month with purchases from Hong Kong-based Aspex.

Ahead of this week's expected deal, Uber controls 24.99 per cent of Delivery Hero's voting rights. That leaves it in a strong position to deter rival bids while remaining just below the threshold that could trigger a foreign investment review by the German government, as well as merger control issues tied to a higher stake.

Market overlap and regional implications

The acquisition would add further scale to Uber in a food delivery market that is already consolidating through large cross-border deals. Last year, DoorDash acquired UK-based Deliveroo for £2.9bn and Prosus bought Just Eat Takeaway for €4.1bn.

For Uber, the transaction would also deepen its presence in the Middle East through Delivery Hero assets including Talabat and Saudi Arabia's HungerStation. It would also bring in the Korean business Baemin, a unit Uber had previously explored bidding for.

Regulatory attention is likely to focus on Europe, where Uber and Delivery Hero overlap in Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Uber has already paused plans to launch delivery services in five new European markets that also have Delivery Hero operations, including Austria, Norway and Greece, a move that one industry figure says may help smooth any EU antitrust review.

The deal also comes during a period of strategic pressure at Delivery Hero. Founder and chief executive Niklas Östberg has said he will leave by March 2027 after years of shareholder criticism, while activist investor Aspex Management has pushed the company to streamline operations, accelerate asset sales and replace its leadership.

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