Uber has reached an agreement to buy an additional 4.5% stake in Delivery Hero, paying approximately €270 million for the shares at €20 each, according to people familiar with the transaction. The seller is Prosus, Delivery Hero’s largest shareholder, which is trimming its position to satisfy competition-related obligations tied to its €4.1 billion acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.
Once the deal closes, Uber would hold an estimated 7% of Delivery Hero and has described the purchase as opportunistic. The agreed price per share is marginally under Delivery Hero’s most recent closing price of €20.14 on Thursday, a session in which the stock jumped roughly 7%. The agreed price is also about 22% higher than the stock’s one-month average.
This is not Uber’s first capital commitment to the Berlin-based food delivery group. The company previously invested $300 million in May 2024. The latest move coincides with Uber’s broader international push: the firm has recently expanded its food delivery operations into seven new countries.
The transaction also reflects a wider pattern of North American interest in Europe’s delivery market. One notable comparable transaction in the sector was DoorDash’s acquisition of Deliveroo for £2.9 billion last year.
Delivery Hero operates across roughly 70 countries under a portfolio of brands including Talabat, Glovo and Foodpanda. The company has been under heightened pressure from investors over performance. Activist shareholder Aspex Management, which holds about 9% of Delivery Hero, has warned it may seek the removal of chief executive Niklas Östberg if the group does not simplify operations and divest underperforming assets.
Prosus currently owns about 27% of Delivery Hero and has publicly signaled an intent to reduce that stake to single digits by August 2026. The investor has examined a range of disposal routes, from block trades to staggered market sell-downs. Aspex has also expressed interest in buying part of Prosus’s holding, though no deal has been reached.
Market indicators tied to the share sale show the negotiated price sits slightly below the most recent close yet well above the recent average, illustrating how strategic transactions can carry different pricing dynamics than routine market trading. The purchase highlights ongoing consolidation and capital reallocation within Europe’s online food delivery sector as legacy and new investors reposition holdings.
Market reaction and implications
- The trade represents further consolidation activity in the European food delivery market and signals sustained interest from large U.S. players.
- Prosus’s planned stake reduction and activist investor pressure suggest potential for more ownership reshuffling at Delivery Hero through 2026.
- For Delivery Hero, the deal comes amid calls from investors to improve operational focus and to divest weaker assets.