The global food delivery landscape is preparing for a massive shakeup. Uber Technologies has officially made a play to buy its German rival, Delivery Hero, in a deal that could value the Berlin-based company at roughly €10 billion (about $10.8 billion). Delivery Hero confirmed on Saturday that Uber proposed a takeover bid at €33 per share. This aggressive move comes as the world’s largest ride-hailing and delivery companies race to consolidate their businesses and dominate international markets.
While Uber hopes to seal the deal quickly, the initial offer has run into immediate resistance. The €33 per share bid represents a minor discount of about 1.76% compared to Delivery Hero’s closing stock price on Friday. According to reports from the Financial Times, Delivery Hero quickly rebuffed this opening ballpark figure. Several major investors in the German company have already signaled that they will fight for a much higher price, with some demanding at least €40 per share before they agree to sell their stakes.
Uber is not the only giant eye-tracking the German delivery firm. DoorDash has also reportedly held quiet talks with major Delivery Hero investors about a potential buyout. This interest from multiple buyers could easily trigger a high-profile takeover battle. Traditional tech platforms are finding it harder to grow organically, so they are increasingly relying on massive acquisitions to buy up market share.
Even if a full takeover takes time, Uber has already quietly built a massive position in Delivery Hero. Just last week, the company revealed that it had increased its holding to approximately 19.5% of Delivery Hero’s issued capital. This represents a huge leap from the 7% stake it owned just a few months ago, officially making Uber the largest single shareholder in the German company.
Much of this recent stake increase happened in April 2026, when Uber purchased a 4.5% block of shares from the investment firm Prosus for €270 million, which is about $318 million. Along with its 19.5% equity stake, Uber also holds options to acquire an additional 5.6% of the company’s shares. Under German corporate laws, if any single shareholder crosses the 30% ownership threshold, they are legally required to launch a mandatory tender offer to buy out all the remaining shareholders.
The relationship between these two delivery giants actually goes back several years. In May 2024, Uber Eats agreed to buy Delivery Hero’s foodpanda business in Taiwan for $950 million in cash. Alongside that acquisition, Uber made a separate $300 million equity investment directly into Delivery Hero. These early deals laid the groundwork for the close cooperation we are seeing today, turning a minority partnership into a full-scale acquisition attempt.
This takeover drama is unfolding during a time of significant transition for Delivery Hero. The company’s long-time co-founder and CEO, Niklas Östberg, is officially preparing to step down from his role by March 2027. The board of directors expects to appoint a new chief executive by the end of 2026. This leadership vacuum makes the company much more vulnerable to outside takeover bids, as investors are often more willing to sell their shares during times of corporate uncertainty.
The stock market reacted quickly to the takeover news. Delivery Hero’s American Depositary Receipts surged by nearly 10% as investors celebrated the possibility of a premium buyout. Meanwhile, Uber’s own stock experienced a modest decline of about 2.43% to close at $71.82. This pattern is very common in Wall Street acquisitions, as the buyer’s shareholders often worry about the high integration costs and the expensive premium required to close the deal.
The potential acquisition of Delivery Hero is a clear sign that the fast-paced delivery boom of the early 2020s has entered a phase of consolidation. During the pandemic, food delivery startups raised billions of dollars in venture capital, but many have struggled to reach profitability on their own. Now, only the largest platforms with deep pockets—like Uber and DoorDash—can afford to run these massive, global logistics networks. By joining forces, they hope to eliminate redundant corporate costs and build highly efficient marketplaces.
Whether Uber succeeds in buying the rest of Delivery Hero depends entirely on the final price. If Uber’s executives refuse to raise their bid above the €33 mark, other competitors like DoorDash might step in and snatch the company away. However, with a 19.5% stake already in hand, Uber holds a massive advantage in any potential bidding war. Over the coming weeks, the board of Delivery Hero and its largest investors will have to decide if they are ready to hand over the keys to their global delivery empire, or if they will hold out for a better offer.
