Uber Delivery Hero takeover offer lands at €33 a share

Delivery Hero said Friday that Uber had made a €33-a-share approach, confirming Bloomberg’s report and turning several days of stake-building speculation into a live cross-border deal process. Delivery Hero shares rose 1.88 per cent to €33.59 in Frankfurt, according to market data in the research brief, while Uber shares fell 2.59 per cent to $71.82.

Reuters reported that Uber had increased its holding in Delivery Hero to about 19.5 per cent from roughly 7 per cent. After that buying, the formal approach looked less like a new idea than the next step in a process already under way.

CNBC said the €33 proposal was 1.76 per cent below Delivery Hero’s previous close. An opening price below the last close usually suggests negotiations are still forming rather than closing.

The stock pointed in the same direction. With Delivery Hero trading above the indicated price, investors were signalling that €33 did not settle valuation and that Uber might need to improve the terms before talks advanced.

Why the bid matters

Bloomberg said a full acquisition would help Uber compete with DoorDash outside the US. A larger network across international markets could give Uber more restaurant density, tighter courier coverage and a better shot at defending margins in a business where investors still watch scale closely.

Delivery Hero also entered the approach under pressure. CNBC said shareholder campaigns had already pushed the company into a strategic review and that chief executive Niklas Oestberg planned to step down. That leaves the board with less room to dismiss a credible bid without explaining why standalone value would be higher.

Reuters cited language from a Delivery Hero filing:

“If Uber believes that further investment in the Issuer is attractive, Uber may acquire (or seek to acquire) shares or other securities”

Delivery Hero regulatory filing, via Reuters

The wording leaves Uber room to buy more shares, revise its proposal or keep pressing without moving straight to a full offer. It also signals that Uber is preserving options while it waits for the board’s response and any early regulatory read-through.

Reuters said Uber did not intend at that point to cross the 30 per cent threshold that would trigger a mandatory offer under German rules. A Delivery Hero spokesperson said the company could not comment on Uber’s plans. The near-term questions are whether Delivery Hero opens talks, whether Uber changes the economics and how regulators assess a deal that would reshape competition in delivery.

Uber has moved the story from rumor to process. The next test is whether Delivery Hero’s board treats €33 a share as a starting point for talks or as a price that needs to rise before control changes hands.