Uber Hungers for Delivery Hero
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The food delivery industry continues to consolidate, with Uber looking to purchase Berlin-based Delivery Hero. DH has been on the chopping blocks for a few months now, as longtime owner Prosus is selling down its stake, having decided to instead back Just Eat Takeaway.com. Since then, activist investors like Aspex Management have been looking to breakup the money-losing conglomerate, with founder and long-time CEO Niklas Östberg getting pushed out in the process.
Aspex had been pushing for Delivery Hero to sell off its different brands and regional operations: the 3PD’s sprawling empire includes Foodora, Foodpanda, Glovo, PedidosYa, Talabat, Baedal Minjok and Yemeksepeti. While DoorDash had reportedly expressed interest in Delivery Hero’s Middle Eastern operations, Uber evidently wants the whole thing. After quietly amassing shares over the past few weeks, Uber just bought out Aspex Management’s big block of stock, boosting its stake to 36.8% at a price of nearly €40 per share.
Bulking Up
Both Uber and DoorDash have been on a consolidation spree over the past few year. In February, Uber bought Turkey’s Getir for $435 million. DoorDash has had an even bigger appetite, spending billions to buy both Wolt and Deliveroo. Thanks to these acquisitions, these delivery players are now handling a massive number of transactions. In Q1, DoorDash handled $31.6 billion in orders, Uber Eats did $25.6 billion and Delivery Hero handled €12.5 billion ($14.56B). In Q1 of 2025, right before going private, Just Eat Takeaway.com’s GTV was €4.72 billion (approximately $5.1 billion at the time). Suffice to say, if Uber Eats swallows Delivery Hero, it’ll claim the “biggest delivery platform” crown, outside of China.
If Uber Eats swallows Delivery Hero, it’ll claim the “biggest delivery platform” crown…
The Crown Jewels
Delivery Hero’s family of brands operate in 65 countries, but many of those operations, especially in Latin America and Europe, have fallen behind, treading water with just the second or third best market share. The two biggest notable exceptions are in Korea and the Gulf.
In South Korea, Baedal Minjok / Woowa Brothers is the country’s number one food delivery app. And while growth has slowed amid saturation, this is a huge, and highly profitable market. This subsidiary alone is worth around $5.8 billion.
In the Middle East, Delivery Hero owns Talabat (UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq) and HungerStation in Saudi Arabia. Delivery Hero publicly listed ~20% of Talabat recently, and we can see that it’s growing like gangbusters: GMV is up 18% YoY and revenue climbed 22%.
Regulatory Questions
With Uber looking to go all in, the biggest question remaining is whether regulators will approve the deal. Taiwanese regulators previously blocked Uber’s $950M attempted purchase of Foodpanda, citing anti-competitive concerns. Delivery Hero had previously tried to sell of the entire Foodpanda unit, but that deal fell apart as well.
In fact, regulatory concerns are the entire reason that Delivery Hero is for sale. Dutch-South African investment group Prosus held a huge stake in DH for years, but last year decided to buy out Just Eat Takeaway.com. European regulators, fearing the combined entity would hold too much pricing power, pushed Prosus to sell down its Delivery Hero shares.
Uber + Delivery Hero would have a commanding position in a number of Asian and European markets. Will regulators think that’s too big to fly, or will they see it as a fair counterbalance to DoorDash + Wolt + Deliveroo? Stay tuned…
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HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
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Left wondering… Marc Lore, who helms delivery and food-hall upstart Wonder, previously stated he was eying a 2028 IPO. But with the capital markets evidently frothy for money-losing startups (SpaceX, every random AI co), the NYC-based company — already valued around $7 billion — is now looking to go public next year.
The death of the dealership? The classic, if not exactly beloved, model of buying a car involved haggling with your local dealers; that’s been under pressure as more automakers ape Tesla’s direct sales model. Now Carvana, best known for its glassy towers of used cars, is looking to shake things up further. It’s gobbled up a series of Stellantis dealerships, using them as hubs to fulfill online orders from out-of-town car shoppers. (H/T Automotive Ventures.)
I guess they truly are down under… Evidently things move a bit slower in Australia, with local big-box retailers suddenly appearing worried that Amazon is going to eat their lunch. Amazon currently only controls 10% of the Australian ecommerce market, allowing local retailers to charge rates that would make American revolt. Local brands like JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Bing Lee and The Good Guys are now worried about the Amazon Effect; the fact that their used to be an American electronics chain also called The Good Guys, which succumbed to Amazon two decades ago, should tell us how this story is likely to play out…
First AND last mile, in this economy?! Los Angeles is making good progress on its Mid-City Greenways project, adding bicycle infrastructure like traffic diverters, bike boxes and specialized signals to a number of leafy residential streets in the heart of the city. Attentive readers may realize that this essentially connects the city’s brand new D Line metro stations with older subway stops in Hollywood, offering commuters a pleasant way to employment and retail hubs along Beverly, Melrose and Santa Monica Boulevards. This’ll surely be a boon to Lime and Bird ridership; perhaps Metro could also sprinkle in a few bikeshare stations along the way?
Re-volt? EV infrastructure providers Voltera and Revel are merging (feel free to borrow my new brand name…) The combined company operates 1,000 charging stalls and is making a push into the hot AV depot space. EQT will be the combined entity’s majority owner, with Blackrock’s Global Infrastructure Partners maintaining a smaller position.
Amalgamated brotherhood of high-mileage Prius owners: Massachusetts officially recognized the country’s first ridehail driver union, with 70,000+ Uber and Lyft drivers across the Bay State forming the App Drivers Union. MA voters approved drivers’ right to form a union in 2024; the SEIU-affiliate can now negotiate with the TNCs over wage and benefits.
Who watches the watchmen? BusPatrol has quickly taken off across the country, offering school districts “free” cameras, attached to school buses, to enforce traffic safety laws. Ticket revenue then repays BusPatrol’s investment. Now BusPatrol is under fire for activating ALPR on those cameras, and opening the data up to broader law enforcement. In an era where the Feds have been rampantly abusing law enforcement powers, this sure does poison the well of improving traffic safety…
A few good links: Truckers warm to Tesla’s electric semi. How Medellín built its metro in the midst of a civil war. Uber’s CA. ballot initiative looks to reduce accident lawyer fees. Aboard raises $13M for electric recreational trailers, led by Ondine Capital and Llama Ventures. Bellevue, greater Seattle’s “second downtown”, looks to start charging for on-street parking. Seattle DOT seeks Senior Curbspace Planner. Vision impaired riders love robotaxis. Date correction: Join our pals at It’s Electric and Slate for a product preview in Koreatown, this Saturday. LA County and NYC launch Bi-Coastal Fleet Accord. Problematic oil projects in China reveal holes in carbon credit system. Chinese-owned Volvo receives permission to continue selling connected cars in U.S. Travel platform WeRoad raises $58M, led by Airbnb. House passes 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Measuring the economic and population shock caused by the Trump Admin’s assault on high-skill immigration.
Don’t forget to join us in Detroit on June 9th for our next Urban Autonomy Summit.
- Jonah Bliss & The Curbivore Crew