Uber Technologies Inc. is reportedly no longer the only company looking to buy Grubhub Inc., the largest food delivery provider in the U.S.

CNBC, citing multiple sources, reported today that publicly traded Grubhub has received offers from at least two European food delivery providers. The tipsters identified the would-be acquirers as Germany’s Delivery Hero SE and Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com NV. Just Eat Takeaway itself emerged from a merger between two smaller food delivery firms that closed a few months ago.

The reported bids are likely to complicate Uber’s acquisition talks with Grubhub, which have been ongoing since February. A May report claimed that the firms were in a position potentially to clinch a deal by the end of that month, but the negotiations have since apparently stalled. 

Sources recently told Bloomberg that the holdup has to do with the companies’ concerns about antitrust scrutiny. At the heart of the matter is that a deal between GrubHub and Uber would combine the largest and third-largest players in the U.S. food delivery market, respectively, which may lead regulators to block the transaction. Grubhub reportedly wants Uber to commit to paying it a breakup fee in case the transaction is blocked, an idea the ride-hailing giant is said to have rebuffed.

But the sources who spoke to CNBC today said a deal may still happen. Previous reports suggest that Uber and Grubhub have already hammered out the tentative financial terms, which would value Grubhub at a premium to its March 28 closing price.

Neither company is currently profitable. But both have seen strong sales growth in recent months, with Grubhub increasing revenues by 12% last quarter and Uber’s Eats food delivery business surging more than 50% during the same three-month period. 

Even if they don’t lead to a deal, the reported rival offers from Delivery Hero and Just Eats Takeaways Inc. may help Grubhub secure more favorable terms from Uber. The tipsters hinted that other bidders may be involved as well. Grubhub is said to have received “multiple offers,” some of which are all-stock deals like what Uber is reportedly proposing, while others combine both cash and stock. 

“We note cost pressures that have surfaced for GRUB following the 3Q19 turning point in strategy that have only intensified since the pandemic began,” Cowen & Co. analysts wrote in a note to clients after the Uber-Grubhub talks became public last month. “We believe consolidation makes sense as scale and reduced competition can help ease cost pressures.”

Photo: GrubHub