Deliveroo opens door to £2.7bn meal deal with DoorDash

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Deliveroo, the food delivery company that listed in London with a £7.6bn valuation in 2021, is set to be the latest UK company swallowed by a US rival after San Francisco-based DoorDash made an indicative £2.7bn bid.

The takeover talks between the two popular takeaway apps come as consolidation gathers pace in the sector. Earlier this year, Prosus struck a €4.1bn deal to take Europe’s leading food delivery group Just Eat Takeaway private.

Founded by Will Shu in 2013, Deliveroo went public in a hotly anticipated IPO four years ago. But the listing proved a debacle as shares lost more than a quarter of their value on the first day of trading.

The company has struggled to perform since. Its stock stood at £1.47 at market close on Friday, down more than 60 per cent on its £3.90 listing price. Competition intensified when Uber Eats launched in the UK in 2016 alongside retail giant Amazon starting grocery delivery the same year.

Deliveroo said in a statement on Friday that its board “would be minded to recommend” DoorDash’s offer of £1.80 a share if a firm approach were made.

Deliveroo operates a food delivery app in nine countries, and booked its first full annual profit in its 2024 results last month.

In February, Deliveroo was forced to deny speculation that Shu was set to step down as chief executive this year, adding that he remained “relentlessly focused on the long-term future” of the company.

DoorDash, which was co-founded in 2013 by Tony Xu, operates in more than 30 countries and posted $10.7bn in revenues last year. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.

DoorDash first made an approach for Deliveroo at roughly the same valuation last summer, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The companies will continue talks and due diligence but there is no guarantee a deal will materialise, Deliveroo added in its statement.

The offer from DoorDash values Deliveroo’s shares at a more than 20 per cent premium to its closing price on Friday. The company will have to make an offer by May 23 under UK takeover rules.

DoorDash operates in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and does not overlap with any of Deliveroo’s markets, which the companies hope will mean the deal does not get blocked by competition regulators, according to the person with knowledge of the talks.

Both companies have been expanding into grocery and retail delivery, while developing their advertising businesses to boost profitability.