Uber adds to its Delivery Hero stake at €12bn valuation
Share purchase from Aspex Management steps up US ride-hailing group’s pursuit of German food delivery company
Uber has increased its stake in Delivery Hero to nearly 37 per cent and set a €12bn benchmark for its valuation as the ride hailer steps up its efforts to acquire the German food delivery group.
The San Francisco-based tech company acquired Aspex Management’s 14.6 per cent stake in Delivery Hero earlier this week through a series of share purchases and derivatives, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Uber agreed to pay slightly below €40 per share, valuing Delivery Hero at about €12bn, the people added.
The move is the latest step by Uber in its pursuit of the Berlin-based delivery group, after it previously submitted a takeover offer to the company’s board at €33 per share. Uber’s board met on Saturday to discuss a higher offer, which would have valued Delivery Hero at more than €11.5bn.
One person familiar with Uber’s thinking said the company was still weighing whether to pursue a formal tender offer for Delivery Hero and that a decision was probably “weeks away”.
Uber had pledged to compensate Aspex if it agreed to purchase Delivery Hero at a higher price, the people added.
After the acquisition from Aspex, Uber now holds an economic interest close to 37 per cent, it disclosed in a filing on Wednesday, up from 25 per cent.
It controls 24.99 per cent of Delivery Hero’s voting rights, strengthening its position to block any rival attempt to acquire it while staying just below the legal threshold for a foreign investment review by the German government as well as merger controls.
Under German law, only voting rights attached to shares or physically settled derivatives count towards the 30 per cent threshold, which would mandate a takeover offer.
The FT previously reported that DoorDash had considered an approach for Delivery Hero’s 80 per cent stake in Middle Eastern delivery app Talabat.
Delivery Hero’s share price has risen almost 100 per cent in the past month due to speculation of a potential takeover attempt. Uber’s share price has retreated more than 4 per cent over the past week.
Any transaction would add to growing consolidation in the global food delivery market after DoorDash’s £2.9bn takeover of Deliveroo and the €4.1bn acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway by Prosus last year.
Prosus, which was previously Delivery Hero’s largest shareholder with a 27 per cent holding, has forfeited its voting rights and agreed to sell down its stake to “single digits” as part of a deal with EU antitrust authorities to allow the Just Eat takeover.
The Amsterdam-based group, which holds a 16.8 per cent stake in Delivery Hero, had been lobbying Brussels in recent weeks for a waiver of that agreement, according to people familiar with the matter.
If granted, Prosus could attempt to block an Uber takeover attempt.
Prosus chief executive Fabricio Bloisi told the FT in December that the EU was at risk of becoming “irrelevant in terms of technology” due to its antitrust rules. The group has criticised European regulators for opening the door for an American takeover of Delivery Hero.
Uber, Aspex, Prosus and Delivery Hero declined to comment.