Uber has reached an agreement to take over the German takeaway company Delivery Hero in a $14.8bn (\u00a311bn, or \u20ac12.9bn) deal that would create a global food delivery giant.<\/p>\n
The US tech firm said it had offered to pay \u20ac41.50 a share to Delivery Hero\u2019s shareholders, valuing the business at $14.8bn. Uber will pay $13.7bn after accounting for its previous purchases of a quarter of Delivery Hero\u2019s shares, most recently in May.<\/p>\n
The deal would combine Uber Eats<\/a> with Delivery Hero\u2019s brands across 99 countries, including Asia\u2019s foodpanda, Latin America\u2019s PedidosYa, and talabat in the Middle East. The combined company booked $236bn in orders in 2025.<\/p>\n Under the deal, the San Francisco-based Uber will not acquire Delivery Hero\u2019s operations in 14 countries where it already has a strong presence, including the Glovo app that serves countries such as Portugal and Spain, foodora in countries such as Norway and Sweden, and Yemeksepeti in Turkey. They will instead be bought for $1.6bn by SSW Partners, a New York-based private equity firm.<\/p>\n Splitting the deal with SSW will help to prevent Uber dominating those markets, an important consideration for competition regulators.<\/p>\n Delivery Hero does not operate in the UK, where Uber Eats is among the biggest players in food delivery.<\/p>\n The deal will combine Uber Eats with Delivery Hero\u2019s brands across 99 countries. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier\/Reuters<\/p>\n The takeaway delivery industry has grown in popularity in the past two decades, with a huge array of apps opening across the world and a boom in deliveries during coronavirus lockdowns<\/a>. However, since the pandemic bubble burst, delivery companies have focused on trying to be big enough to cover significant operating costs \u2013 and putting pressure on delivery workers\u2019 pay<\/a> and conditions.<\/p>\n That has led to a wave of takeovers as businesses chase greater scale. The US\u2019s DoorDash last year took over Britain\u2019s Deliveroo for \u00a32.9bn<\/a>, while the South African-owned investment group Prosus bought JustEat Takeaway<\/a> for \u20ac4bn (\u00a33.4bn).<\/p>\n Delivery Hero\u2019s board and executives unanimously supported the takeover, and said they intended to recommend it to shareholders. Prosus said it had committed to sell its 17% shareholding in Delivery Hero to Uber.<\/p>\n Kristin Skogen Lund, chair of Delivery Hero\u2019s supervisory board, said: \u201cThe food delivery business is highly competitive and scale-dependent. It is challenging to build from a European base, yet we have achieved an enormous amount over 15 years.<\/p>\n \u201cJoining forces with a strong partner now is the right move for Delivery Hero to best secure its future competitiveness and ability to deliver value for all our stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n Uber said it will maintain Delivery Hero\u2019s headquarters in Berlin and make no changes to its workforceuntil at least 2029, and pledged to invest \u20ac2bn in Germany<\/a> over the next five years. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2027.<\/p>\n Uber said it will offer taxi services and food delivery in 58 markets after the deal completes, up from 34. It said it benefits from taxi customers also using its food delivery services, and that people who use both services tend to spend three times more on its app.<\/p>\n