Uber in advanced talks to buy Delivery Hero in possible takeover

Delivery Hero confirmed advanced negotiations with Uber Technologies over a possible takeover, turning months of speculation into an open bid for the German food-delivery group. The company said any eventual offer would be made to all shareholders and declined to discuss price, while its shares closed up 5.76% at 39.10 euros.

Uber’s earlier approach in May valued Delivery Hero at about 10 billion euros, underscoring how aggressively the U.S. group is pushing beyond ride-hailing into global delivery and logistics. Uber has also built itself into a major shareholder, lifting its stake to nearly 37% after buying shares from Aspex Management, a position that gives it unusual influence before any formal offer lands.

The deal talk matters because it could reshape how food delivery is priced and negotiated. A combination of Uber’s platform scale and Delivery Hero’s regional reach would give the buyer more leverage over restaurant commissions, delivery fees and the terms faced by couriers, especially in markets where local rivals are already thinly capitalized. For gig workers, that kind of consolidation can mean fewer large platforms to play against one another when pushing for better pay or working conditions.

Uber has already been pulling back from parts of its own European expansion while keeping Delivery Hero in view. The company had planned launches in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania, and expected those moves to generate an extra $1 billion in gross bookings over three years. It has since paused most of that rollout, including five of the seven markets, which suggests the acquisition push has become a higher priority than a broad standalone expansion.

Delivery Hero enters the talks with a large global footprint and a cleaner balance sheet than it had a year ago. The company operates in around 70 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and its brands include foodpanda, Talabat, Glovo and PedidosYa. In March 2026, it said 2025 adjusted EBITDA reached 903 million euros, free cash flow was 250 million euros and pro forma cash stood at 2.7 billion euros after financing. It also agreed to sell foodpanda Taiwan to Grab for 600 million dollars.

Regulators are likely to focus on whether a cross-border merger would tighten control over already concentrated local delivery markets. Delivery Hero settled a European Commission antitrust case for 329 million euros on June 2, 2025, and the commission opened a formal investigation on July 22, 2024 into possible anticompetitive agreements in online food delivery. Delivery Hero said in May 2026 that chief executive Niklas Östberg would hand over leadership by March 31, 2027, while staying on through the strategic review and M&A process that began in December 2025.