DoorDash considered takeover of Deliveroo: report

[LONDON] US food delivery company DoorDash considered a takeover bid for London-based Deliveroo but the 2 sides failed to reach an agreement, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

America's biggest meal-delivery service mulled a bid to further its plan to expand in Europe and met with Deliveroo over the summer, the Sunday Times reported. A tie up would have created a food-delivery company with £4 billion (S$7.2 billion) in sales, the paper said.

DoorDash, instead, bought Finnish food-delivery startup Wolt Enterprises Oy for about US$8 billion. That became one of the most notable mergers of the rapidly consolidating food-delivery industry, which skyrocketed in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, though most of the companies are struggling to make a profit.

Deliveroo went public in London in March 2021 but its share price has slumped since the offering. Deliveroo closed at 106.8 pence on Friday (Mar 4), less than a third of the initial sale price of 390 pence. BLOOMBERG