As we were saying yesterday, Uber was preparing to acquire one of its major competitors in the food delivery space: Germany’s Delivery Hero, which also owns Glovo. Now, Uber has officially launched its public takeover bid and has outlined the terms of the deal. Among them is one particularly surprising condition: Spain’s Glovo will be split up, and its business in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Moldova, Poland, and Romania will be transferred to a U.S. investment fund.
In an official statement, Uber announced that it has reached a “business combination agreement” with Delivery Hero, enabling it to expand its delivery business to 99 markets worldwide. Under the terms of the public takeover bid, Uber will offer Delivery Hero shareholders cash consideration of €41.50 per share, representing a total company valuation of $14.8 billion, or around €12.9 billion. As of today, Uber directly owned approximately 24.77% of Delivery Hero’s issued voting share capital.
Clearly, this is a firm announcement, but there are still a couple of steps left before the process is complete. The takeover bid will be subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 50% plus one share of Delivery Hero’s outstanding share capital (including the shares owned by Uber), as well as certain additional conditions, such as obtaining the necessary financial regulatory and merger control approvals. That is a key factor, given the restrictions that bodies such as the European Commission typically place on transactions that could affect market competition.
Delivery Hero is currently a giant capable of generating €14.8 billion in annual revenue and handling 12 million orders per day, having grown significantly since its founding in Berlin in 2011. Its parent company brings together some of the regional leaders across markets in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa, including Foody, Foodora, Yemeksepeti, Pedidos Ya, and Glovo.
Now then, let us get to the Glovo part.
Likely to shield itself from potential sanctions by bodies such as the European Commission, Uber will not take control of Delivery Hero’s entire current business portfolio. To that end, the German company has reached an agreement with U.S. investment fund SSW Partners, to which it will sell a significant portion of that portfolio, which will not become part of Uber.
And Glovo is part of that package. Or at least, part of Glovo.
“SSW will acquire Delivery Hero’s businesses in a total of 14 markets, particularly where Uber Eats and Delivery Hero already operate side by side, subject to the completion of Uber’s public takeover bid and other customary conditions, for an amount of approximately $1.6 billion. Uber will not acquire control of the businesses transferred to SSW, and the latter will independently lead the process of finding strategic partners to better position those businesses for long-term success,” Uber explains.
In Glovo’s case, Uber will retain the Spanish company’s business in Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Georgia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Morocco, Nigeria, Serbia, Tunisia, Uganda, and Ukraine. However, Uber will sell Glovo’s business in Spain, Portugal, Moldova, Poland, and Romania to SSW Partners.
This decision will also apply to the business of other companies owned by Delivery Hero. For example, it will sell Foodora’s operations in Austria, Czechia, Norway, and Sweden to SSW Partners; Efood’s business in Greece; Foody’s in Cyprus; PedidosYa’s in Chile and Ecuador; as well as Yemeksepeti’s in Turkey. The separation particularly affects markets where Uber Eats and Delivery Hero already compete with one another, which will likely reduce some of the antitrust concerns the transaction could otherwise raise.
The sale of part of Glovo marks a setback in the trajectory of this historic Spanish company, founded by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud in Barcelona in 2014. Despite spectacular growth that enabled it to secure leading positions in markets such as those mentioned above, Glovo has not been able to escape the ongoing regulatory controversies that have followed it in recent years (such as those related to the “Rider Law”). The company has belonged to Delivery Hero since 2022, following a deal valued at around €2.3 billion.
The transfer of Glovo and the rest of the businesses that will not come under Uber’s control is expected to close in the second half of 2027, after which SSW Partners will seek a new buyer for them.
Image: ChatGPT
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