Uber Technologies Inc. is in advanced talks to sell its Uber Eats business in India to Zomato Media Pvt. Ltd., according to a report by TechCrunch today.

The deal, first reported in November, would see Uber exit the food delivery business on the sub-continent for a price of around $400 million, with Uber also possibly investing $150 million to $200 million in Zomato.

The move would be notable as the first time Uber has quit food delivery in a market while still operating its ride-hailing business. Established in 2017, Uber Eats India took some market share but never came close to the market leaders. Zomato and Swiggy dominate the local app-based food delivery market while Uber was a distant third place on installations and fourth place on the volume of food delivered.

Uber is expected to continue its ride-hailing operations in the country, though it’s getting beaten in that market by local firm Ola. Uber has always had a preference for dominating the markets it operates in, but India may be the exception thanks to the size of the country and its growth opportunities.

Already a $30 billion market in 2019, raid-hailing is expected to grow to $54 billion by 2023 in the country. Even if Uber plays second fiddle to Ola, that’s still a lot of customers and potential revenue for the company.

Uber has exited certain markets where it can’t compete before, so often that it resembles a business strategy rather than a sign of failure. One reason is that those exits always come with Uber obtaining a stake in the companies it’s selling out to, meaning it maintains an interest in the territory. With Uber set to invest in Zomato, history appears to be repeating.

The first territory Uber exited was mainland China, where it sold its local business to Didi Chuxing Technology Co. for a 20% stake in Didi valued at $7 billion at the time in 2016. That was followed by its selling its Russian business to Yandex Europe AG in 2017 a deal worth $3.72 billion in which Uber got a 36.6% stake. Next was Southeast Asia with Uber selling its business to Grab Taxi Pte. Ltd. for a 27.5% stake in 2018.

For Uber, these exists have allowed it to focus on core markets and stem losses while also having exposure to the very same markets through share ownership. The sale of Uber Eats to India is no different. The only question now is which business might be next on Uber’s chopping block.

Image: Uber