On Tuesday, Uber announced that it will sale its food delivery business in India to Zomato in an all-stock deal.
According to Business Standard, Uber will get a 9.9 per cent stake in Zomato as part of the deal whose size has not been disclosed. The deal for Uber Eats, which operates in 41 cities, was signed at 3 am, and its customers will be shifted to the Zomato app from 7 am.
"Our Uber Eats team in India has achieved an incredible amount over the last two years, and I couldn’t be prouder of their ingenuity and dedication. India remains an exceptionally important market to Uber and we will continue to invest in growing our local Rides business, which is already the clear category leader. We have been very impressed by Zomato’s ability to grow rapidly in a capital-efficient manner and we wish them continued success,” Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber said in statement.
In a regulatory filing to BSE, Info Edge (India) - a shareholder in Zomato - said its shareholding in Zomato will stand reduced to about 22.71 per cent on fully converted and diluted basis upon closing of the transaction. The deal comes days after Zomato had raised USD 150 million in funding from existing investor Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate, at a USD 3 billion valuation.
“We are proud to have pioneered restaurant discovery and to have created a leading food delivery business across more than 500 cities in India. This acquisition significantly strengthens our position in the category,” Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato said in a statement.
Uber Eats, which entered India in 2017, has about 26,000 restuarants listed on its platform from 41 cities. Zomato's restaurant discovery and food delivery platform has information for over 1.5 million restaurants across 24 countries and serves more than 70 million users every month.
Discussions between Zomato and Uber have been on for months. Facing stiff competition from Zomato and Swiggy, Uber Eats had been making losses. Uber had projected an operating loss of Rs 2,197 crore in its food delivery business for the five months through December 2019, according to a valuation report prepared by KPMG affiliate BSR and was part of regulatory filings.
"We have announced today that Zomato has acquired Uber Eats in India. As such, you will no longer be able to order from Uber Eats in India, but you will be able to enjoy your favourite meals with exciting offers tailored for you on Zomato. You can still get rides via the Uber app, which remains active and available. And you can still use Uber Eats if you're traveling outside India. Until then, we hope you will enjoy many more tasty moments and discover great restaurants around you on Zomato," Uber said in a statement.
(Inputs from Agencies)
