Delivery Herocompany that owns Glovohas soared 26.34% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after reaching an agreement with Uber which will allow the American multinational acquire foodpanda delivery business of the German company in Taiwan for $950 million in cash. Besides, Uber will buy $300 million in shares newly issued ordinary by Delivery Hero. The acquisition of foodpanda Taiwan is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions and is scheduled to close in the first half of 2025.
Until the transaction is completed, Delivery Hero will continue to operate foodpanda Taiwan as before, «offering the best possible service for its customers and suppliers. In the period after the closure, foodpanda's consumers, merchants and local delivery partners will switch to Uber Eats,» the company explained. Due to its current presence in Taiwan, Uber is best positioned to take advantage of the significant local operations developed by Delivery Hero and foodpanda in recent years, and invest even more into an improved experience for consumers, merchants and delivery partners. «The strength of our Taiwanese business is a testament to the hard work of many teams for the last eight years. In order to build a world-leading service, we have concluded that we need to focus our resources on other parts of our global presence, where we believe we can have the greatest impact for customers, suppliers and passengers. This deal gives foodpanda an exciting runway in Taiwan and we wish them all the best in their next chapter«said Niklas Östberg, CEO and co-founder of Delivery Hero. The agreement will combine Uber's global experience in the operation of a highly efficient market with foodpanda's extensive coverage in Taiwan and its relationships with local brands. Likewise, it will provide consumers with a greater variety of food types and prices by bringing together the complementary groups of merchants on Uber Eats and foodpanda on a combined platform. For example, they will benefit from bringing together Uber's broader selection in northern Taiwan and major urban centers with foodpanda's comparative strength in southern Taiwan and smaller cities. A better service for consumers helps generate more orders from traders, and more orders from traders means»more opportunities for delivery partners to earnPierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, senior vice president of delivery at Uber, has stated that “bringing together our diverse customer bases, merchant selections and geographic footprints will allow us to offer more options and the best prices for consumersa Greater demand for restaurants and more profit opportunities for delivery partners. Taiwan is a fiercely competitive market, where online food delivery platforms today still represent only a small part of the food delivery landscape. «We are very excited about the opportunity to deliver even greater convenience and value that this transaction will unlock for years to come.» Once completed, this deal will be one of the largest international acquisitions in Taiwan's history, outside the semiconductor industry. «Uber's decision to commit to this considerable increase in its investment in Taiwan is a concrete vote of confidence in the country's continued long-term attractiveness to international companies and investors,» Delivery Hero concluded.