Uber pauses five planned European launches as Delivery Hero deal looms

Uber put five planned European food-delivery launches on hold, including Austria, Norway and Greece, after saying in February that it would enter seven new markets in 2026 and add about $1 billion in gross bookings over three years.

The pause leaves only part of that expansion map intact. Uber had named Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania as target markets, but by July 5 five of those launches were no longer moving ahead. Uber said its recent rollouts in Finland and Denmark had been a "huge success" and that it now wanted to build on that momentum in existing markets rather than keep pushing into new ones.

The decision comes as Uber deepens its push for Delivery Hero, the German food-delivery group that confirmed in May it had received a €33-per-share takeover offer. Uber later raised its stake in Delivery Hero to nearly 37% from 25% after buying shares from Aspex Management, a move that tightened the link between Uber’s own expansion plans and the regulatory scrutiny surrounding a possible deal.

That timing matters in Europe, where food-delivery competition is already intense and where merger review has shown a willingness to force concessions. Uber Eats is up against rivals including Wolt and Deliveroo across parts of the continent, while Delivery Hero operates in several of the countries Uber had targeted. Industry observers said pausing the launch slate could help reduce antitrust concerns if Uber presses ahead with an acquisition.

Brussels has already shown how hard it is to clear food-delivery consolidation without conditions. In 2025, the European Commission approved Prosus’s acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway only after commitments that included reducing its Delivery Hero stake, a signal that competition authorities were prepared to attach remedies to deals that could reshape the sector.

For Uber, the retreat from five launches marks a more cautious European strategy after an ambitious February pitch. The company is keeping Finland and Denmark as proof points, but the broader plan to scale quickly across the region is now running into a more complicated mix of competition policy, deal-making and market resistance.