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Delivery Hero said on Saturday that Uber had offered to buy it in a deal that would value the company at over €10bn, after the FT reported that Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi had sought to acquire it.
Khosrowshahi flew into Oslo this week to meet the chair of the food delivery group’s supervisory board Kristin Skogen Lund, according to several people familiar with the matter. He floated a price of about €33 per share but was rebuffed, they added.
In a statement released after the FT report was published, Delivery Hero said: “Uber Technologies reached out with an indicative proposal of €33 per share in respect of a potential takeover offer to all shareholders.”
“The company remains fully focused on executing its strategic review process. Further updates will be provided as required or appropriate,” the statement added.
Rival DoorDash has also been circling Delivery Hero and made enquiries to shareholders about purchasing the group’s Middle East arm, according to three people familiar with the matter. DoorDash has explored a full takeover bid, they added.
Tony Xu, DoorDash’s chief, also made contact with Lund, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Both Uber and DoorDash have engaged in discussions about acquiring multiple shareholders’ stakes in Delivery Hero in recent days, the people added.
Several current shareholders told the FT they would seek a price above €40 per share, which would be a 19 per cent premium on Delivery Hero’s closing price on Friday, potentially valuing the company at about €13bn.
It was not clear what price might ultimately be agreed or the final terms of any deal.
Uber disclosed on Monday that it owned 19.5 per cent of Delivery Hero and held a further 5.6 per cent in derivatives.
Morgan Stanley is working on Uber’s bid, the people added. The bank disclosed in regulatory filings on Friday that it had a 27 per cent interest in Delivery Hero, primarily through equity swaps.
Delivery Hero’s board is considering a full sale or series of deals that would spin off the group’s Middle East and Korea divisions, the people said.
The company’s founder and chief executive Niklas Östberg said last week that he would leave by March 2027 after years of shareholder pressure. Aspex Management, an activist investor which holds a 14.6 per cent stake in Delivery Hero, has long called on the company to streamline operations, speed up asset sales and replace Östberg.
Both suitors may yet decide to abandon their pursuit and any transaction could be blocked by regulators, the people added.
One person said Uber’s talks were exploratory and it had not decided whether to pursue a takeover.
The global food delivery market is consolidating, with DoorDash’s £2.9bn takeover of Deliveroo and the €4.1bn acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway by Prosus last year.
Uber acquired €270mn-worth of shares in Delivery Hero from Prosus in April, giving it a 7 per cent stake. The Dutch investment group was previously Delivery Hero’s largest shareholder but has been reducing its holding to comply with EU antitrust requirements linked to its takeover of Just Eat.
Uber described the deal as “opportunistic” at the time, while Prosus chief executive Fabricio Bloisi previously said the EU was at risk of becoming “irrelevant in terms of technology” due to its antitrust rules.
Prosus, which still holds a 16.8 per cent stake in Delivery Hero, has since criticised European regulators for forcing it to reduce its stake, thereby creating the opportunity for a full American takeover.
DoorDash is primarily interested in the group’s Middle East business which includes Talabat and HungerStation, according to two people familiar with the matter. It is also seeking Delivery Hero’s Turkish arm Yemeksepeti but has not ruled out a bid for the whole company, the people added.
The company approached shareholders and was told that the group’s 80 per cent stake in Talabat alone was worth up to €9bn, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Uber separately made enquiries about the group’s South Korean arm in a joint bid with Korean internet giant Naver that would have valued the unit around €4.6bn, the people added. The Seoul Economic Daily first reported the approach.
The combined total of these business units exceeds the price floor sought by several large shareholders for the entirety of Delivery Hero.
Uber’s existing stake represents an obstacle to any other bid, giving it influence over capital increases, acquisitions and changes to the company’s constitutional documents.
Uber previously pointed to disclosures the company had made that said it had “no intent to acquire 30 per cent or more of [Delivery Hero’s] voting rights” but left the option open for it to increase its stake. A stake of that size would trigger an obligation to make a takeover offer under German rules.
Uber is expanding its food delivery reach in Europe, having announced it would enter seven new markets this year.
Uber declined to comment further on Saturday. DoorDash and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
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