UPDATED 21:57 EST / SEPTEMBER 20 2018

EMERGING TECH

Report: Uber in talks to acquire rival food delivery service Deliveroo

Uber Technologies Inc. is in talks to acquire Roofoods Ltd., the U.K.-based food delivery startup better known by its trading name of Deliveroo.

Bloomberg, quoting people familiar with the plans, claimed the talks between the two companies are only in an early stage and that an acquisition price is unknown.

Founded in 2012, Deliveroo has rapidly expanded and today offers food delivery services in the U.K., the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Australia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.

The company last raised nearly $500 million in a round last year from investors, including Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price Group Inc., on a valuation believed to be slightly above $2 billion.

Given that figure, Deliveroo investors will be looking for a figure well north of that in a potential acquisition, something confirmed by Bloomberg’s sources. But that may not be the only concern. The report claimed that Deliveroo and its investors may be reluctant to relinquish independence.

That Uber would be interested in buying Deliveroo and hence expanding its Uber Eats business does not come as a surprise. Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said in August that the company is deliberately investing in the future of its platform– immediately naming Uber Eats above all other divisions of the company as targeted for investment.

Uber Eats has been highly successful for Uber, but it’s not without competition. Whereas Uber has exited ride-hailing markets where it has played second fiddle to competitors, the market is still wide open in food delivery. Acquiring Deliveroo would give Uber Eats an edge in many of the markets it already operates at time its competition is also consolidating.

In the U.K, food delivery service Just Eat plc acquired Hungryhouse plc for $318 million in November while in India Uber rival Ola acquired the local arm of Foodpanda in December. In Australia, Foodora announced it was exiting from the market in August as it struggled to compete against both Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

With Uber finally set to go public in 2019, the acquisition of Deliveroo would be icing on the cake that would give Uber a growing, solid business that can only help its initial public offering prospects.

Photo: Shopblocks/Flickr

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