Uber to buy Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations in $950m deal

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Uber Technologies is planning to acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan business for US$950 million in cash. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first half of next year.

Once completed, the deal is said to be one of the largest international acquisitions in Taiwan. Also, Uber plans to purchase US$300 million in new shares from Delivery Hero, Foodpanda’s parent company.

Delivery Hero said in a statement that it will continue operating Foodpanda Taiwan until the closing of the sale. After this, Foodpanda Taiwan’s consumers, merchants, and delivery partners will be transferred over to Uber Eats.

The acquisition aims to combine Uber’s efficiency with Foodpanda’s wide Taiwanese network. According to the statement, consumers would also benefit from Uber’s northern Taiwan network combined with Foodpanda’s deep southern presence.

Delivery Hero CEO Niklas Östberg said the company will focus resources on other global sectors “where we feel we can have the largest impact for customers, vendors, and riders.”

In February this year, Delivery Hero said in a statement that it ended talks with “the main negotiating counterpart” in a potential sale of its Foodpanda operations in some Southeast Asian markets. Östberg said at the time that Delivery Hero’s Asia-Pacific business was “strongly positioned to drive profitable growth at scale.”

While he didn’t disclose the negotiating counterpart, Delivery Hero had reportedly been speaking to Grab about the sale.

However, Delivery Hero said it was still open to merger and acquisition deals that “can create value to shareholders and with high certainty of closing.”

See also: Legal woes, police reports trail woman linked to ex-Foodpanda CEO’s exit