Uber to acquire Foodpanda's Taiwan business for $950 million, creating a potential monopoly

Uber Technologies will acquire the Taiwan business of Delivery Hero-owned Foodpanda for $950 million in cash, as Foodpanda focuses on other markets.

The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first half of 2025, the firms said in a joint statement on Monday.

In a separate agreement, Delivery Hero will sell $300 million in newly issued ordinary shares to Uber.

“We need to focus our resources on other parts of our global footprint, where we feel we can have the largest impact for customers, vendors and riders,” said Niklas Östberg, co-founder and CEO of Delivery Hero.

Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, senior vice president of delivery at Uber, said the Taiwan market is “fiercely competitive” and the acquisition would help them grow in the market “where online food delivery platforms today still represent just a small part of the food delivery landscape.” 

Foodpanda is one of the largest online food and grocery delivery platforms in Asia with a presence in markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines and Hong Kong. In 2016, Germany’s Delivery Hero acquired the company.

Taiwan’s food delivery market is dominated by Foodpanda and Uber Eats. Data from insights platform Measurable AI up till August revealed that Foodpanda had a 52% market share by order volume in Taiwan, while Uber Eats held the remaining 48% share.

The deal would be one of the largest international acquisitions in Taiwan, not including those in the semiconductor chip industry, according to the joint statement.

Delivery Hero said in February it had ended talks to sell its Foodpanda business in selected Southeast Asian markets. Östberg told CNBC the same month that the firm was “happy” to hold on to its Foodpanda business in Southeast Asia “forever.”

– CNBC’s Ryan Browne and Dylan Butts contributed to this report.