DoorDash has made a cash acquisition offer for Deliveroo, valuing the UK-based food delivery company at £2.9 billion (US$3.85 billion) on a fully diluted basis.

The offer includes 180 pence (US$2.25) per share for Deliveroo shareholders, which represents a 44% premium to the stock’s closing price on April 4, 2025.

The acquisition will proceed through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under UK company law.

DoorDash said that the financial terms of the offer are final but may consider increasing the offer if a third-party bidder appears.

🔗 Source: Deliveroo

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Strategic premium reflects intensifying global delivery competition

DoorDash’s 44% premium for Deliveroo signals the rising strategic value of established delivery networks in key urban markets despite food delivery’s post-pandemic normalization.

The £2.9 billion valuation represents a substantial 13.4x EV/EBITDA multiple based on Deliveroo’s projected 2025 adjusted EBITDA range of £170-190 million, indicating DoorDash’s willingness to pay for established market positions rather than building them organically1.

This premium comes at a time when many food delivery companies have struggled to maintain pandemic-era growth rates, with Deliveroo itself reporting modest 8% year-on-year GTV growth to £7.1 billion in 20241.

The valuation reflects the difficulty and high costs of organic expansion in mature delivery markets, where customer acquisition costs remain high and local market knowledge presents significant barriers to entry.

While expensive, the acquisition provides DoorDash immediate scale that would otherwise take years to build, particularly in densely populated European urban centers where Deliveroo has established strong network effects.

2️⃣ Geographic complementarity drives consolidation strategy

The acquisition illustrates how geographic complementarity has become a primary driver in food delivery consolidation, with zero market overlap between the two companies.

Deliveroo’s operations in nine countries, including the UK, France, Italy, and UAE, are all new territories for DoorDash, instantly expanding its global footprint to over 40 countries serving approximately 50 million monthly active users1.

This acquisition adds Deliveroo’s 7 million monthly active consumers to DoorDash’s existing 42 million user base without cannibalizing existing markets1.