SAN FRANCISCO — Uber’s offer to acquire Delivery Hero, announced Thursday at €41.50 a share in cash for an equity value of about $14.8 billion, came to $21.4 billion at checkout once a service fee, a regulatory fee, a small-company surcharge, and a suggested tip of 18 percent were applied, according to an analysis by the Center for Measured Outcomes.
Delivery Hero, the Berlin-based food delivery company, said its management and supervisory boards unanimously support the offer and intend to recommend that shareholders accept it. Prosus, the company’s second-largest shareholder, agreed to tender its roughly 17 percent stake. Uber, which already held about 24.8 percent of Delivery Hero directly, said it would pay with cash on hand and new debt, backed by a bridge facility of about €14 billion. The companies said settlement is expected in the second half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals.
The Center’s itemized estimate of the deal, which carries a margin of error of plus or minus $0.4 billion, lists the $14.8 billion purchase price, a $2.2 billion service fee, a $1.1 billion “regulatory response fee,” a $9.99 small-order fee waived because the order was over $35, a $0.6 billion surcharge for acquiring a company with fewer than 100 markets, and a $2.7 billion tip, which Uber’s system pre-selected at 18 percent and which Delivery Hero’s boards did not notice until after confirming.
“The tip was the part that surprised people,” said Dr. Marjorie Teller, the Center’s director. “The tip was calculated on the purchase price, which is generous, and then a second tip was suggested on the first tip, which is new.” According to the Center, the boards received a notification reading “Your acquisition is being prepared” at 7:02 a.m. Berlin time Thursday, and a second notification at 7:04 a.m. saying the acquisition had been picked up by a driver who was “completing another acquisition nearby.” Delivery Hero employees reported that a small car icon representing the deal had circled the company’s headquarters 31 times as of Friday morning without stopping, and that the estimated arrival time had changed from “second half of 2027” to “second half of 2027 to first half of 2028” and back 14 times. At 9:30 a.m. Friday, the boards were asked by the app whether they would like to add a regional grocery chain to the order for an additional $4 billion, and declined.
Delivery Hero’s boards rated the experience four stars, which the Center said Uber’s system classified as a complaint.
Teller said further study was needed into whether a delivery company being delivered to another delivery company constitutes a delivery, a merger, or “the same car going around the block,” and that the Center had applied for funding to wait outside the building and see.
The offer remains subject to regulatory review in multiple countries. Delivery Hero said it would leave the deal at the door if no one was available to receive it, and that it had already been given a code.