Uber Technologies Inc., the San Francisco-based company behind the top ride-sharing app in the world, is making moves to consolidate its market footing with an announced $2.65 billion all-stock acquisition of delivery app Postmates.
The buyout will bulk up its in-house product, Uber Eats, which has helped maintain the company’s bottom line during the coronavirus pandemic and will help it better compete with DoorDash, the market-leading delivery app in the United States.
“Uber and Postmates have long shared a belief that platforms like ours can power much more than just food delivery — they can be a hugely important part of local commerce and communities, all the more important during crises like COVID-19,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a press release, according to Business Insider.
“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,” Khosrowshahi added. “We’re thrilled to welcome Postmates to the Uber family as we innovate together to deliver better experiences for consumers, delivery people, and merchants across the country.”
Postmates Chief Executive Officer Bastian Lehmann will continue to provide standalone service on the application while Uber Eats chief Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty will oversee Uber’s combined delivery business.
Uber previously failed in its bid for GrubHub, a popular delivery app that is publicly traded and was acquired by European-based Just Eat Takeaway for $7.3 billion.
Postmates, which was founded in 2011, was a first mover in the food delivery space but struggled to remain competitive as new services entered the digital market.
