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Uber snaps up Postmates in £2.65bn deal

An Uber Eats bag
An Uber Eats bag

Ride-hailing giant Uber has agreed a $2.65 billion (£2.09 billion) deal to buy Postmates in an all-stock takeover as it looks to expand its reach in the food-delivery business.

Uber, which is under pressure as its core ride-hailing business reels from global lockdowns, offered a premium of about 10pc on Postmates' last valuation of $2.4 billion. Postmates in September raised $225 million in a private fundraising round.

In a statement, Uber said that restaurants and merchants will be able to connect with a larger consumer base more "easily and cost-effectively". The company said it will keep the customer-facing Postmates app running separately.

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Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the platforms had shared a belief that they can play a "hugely important part" in local commerce.

"As more people and more restaurants have come to use our services, Q2 bookings on Uber Eats are up more than 100 percent year on year," Mr Khosrowshahi said of the new acquisition.

Postmates operates in 4,200 US cities delivering food and other products from restaurants and stores to customers' doorstep.

Founded in 2011, San Francisco-based Postmates accounted for 8pc of the US meal delivery market in May, with its biggest rival DoorDash leading with a 44pc market share, according to analytics firm Second Measure.

Postmates co-founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann said that the companies had been "strong allies" and worked together to great best practices across the industry.

Uber is set to issue around 84 million shares of common stock for the fully diluted equity of Postmates.

The company hopes the deal will help in its bid to overhaul DoorDash, the US-market leader when it comes to food delivery. Postmates’ strongholds in the American southwest and Los Angeles are believed to be of value to Uber Eats.

Bloomberg reported talks between the two parties had been “on and off” for around four years but moved forward within the last week after a new approach from Uber.

Uber’s move for Postmates comes shortly after it missed out on a deal for GrubHub, which was snapped up by Britain’s Just Eat in a £5.75 billion deal.