Uber halts Europe food delivery expansion as it pursues Delivery Hero deal

Uber has paused majority of its planned food delivery expansion across Europe, pivoting its strategy as it aggressively pursues a multi-billion dollar takeover of its Berlin-based rival, Delivery Hero.

As reported by the Financial Times, after announcing to pursue with Delivery Hero, Uber no longer plans to launch food delivery in five of the seven countries it had targeted for expansion this year, including Austria, Norway and Greece, while it did not identify the other two countries.

Earlier in the year, Uber said it planned to expand its food delivery business into seven new European markets including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania.

The company expected the move to generate an additional $1 billion in gross bookings over the next three years.

However, according to FT report, the San Francisco-based company, however, is still seeking to ‌acquire Delivery Hero.

Delivery Hero said in May it had received a €33-per-share ($37.74) offer from Uber, and that the U.S. company had raised its stake in the German food delivery company to nearly 37% from 25% after buying a stake from fellow shareholder Aspex Management.

Moreover, Uber told the FT it had decided to halt its expansion after the “huge success” of launches in Finland and Denmark, with plans to “focus on continuing the momentum” in existing markets.

Uber has been battling fiercely across international markets against Deliveroo and the DoorDash-owned Wolt, even as DoorDash continues to widen its lead on Uber’s home turf in the United States.

The pullback comes at a time when food delivery platforms are feeling intense pressure to prioritize profitability and market dominance over expensive, ground-up expansions.