👉 Independent reporting on the MENA tech and startup ecosystem. Stories like this exist because subscribers fund them. Subscribe now.
Uber has acquired activist investor Aspex Management's entire 14.6% stake in Delivery Hero at just below €40 per share, valuing the German food delivery group at approximately €12 billion and lifting Uber's total economic interest to nearly 37%, the Financial Times reported.
The purchase was made through a combination of share purchases and derivatives, with Uber pledging to compensate Aspex if it ultimately acquires Delivery Hero at a higher price.
Uber now controls 24.99% of Delivery Hero's voting rights, positioned just below the threshold that would trigger a mandatory takeover offer under German law and a foreign investment review by Berlin.
A person familiar with Uber's thinking told the FT that the company was still weighing whether to launch a formal tender offer and that a decision was "probably weeks away."
Uber's board met on Saturday to discuss a higher bid after its initial €33-per-share proposal was rebuffed by the supervisory board last week.
The removal of Aspex, which had been the most vocal advocate for asset sales and leadership changes at Delivery Hero, consolidates Uber's position and effectively blocks rival approaches.
DoorDash, which the FT previously reported had been interested in Delivery Hero's 80% stake in Talabat and the Turkish arm Yemeksepeti, now faces an Uber blocking minority on any alternative deal structure.
Delivery Hero's strategic review, which FWDstart first reported on in March when the company sold Foodpanda Taiwan to Grab for $600 million, now appears increasingly likely to end with a full Uber takeover rather than a piecemeal asset sale.
Prosus, which still holds 16.8% but has forfeited its voting rights and is required by EU antitrust authorities to sell down to single digits as a condition of its Just Eat Takeaway acquisition, has been lobbying Brussels for a waiver of that agreement, according to Bloomberg.
If granted, Prosus could attempt to block an Uber takeover. CEO Fabricio Bloisi has previously criticised European regulators for opening the door to an American takeover of a European delivery company.
Uber, Aspex, Prosus and Delivery Hero have all declined to comment.
👉 Independent reporting on the MENA tech and startup ecosystem. Stories like this exist because subscribers fund them. Subscribe now.
