Monday, 6th July, saw two delivery giants become one as Uber acquired Postmates for a deal worth $2.65 Billion. Postmates and Uber eats are two of the biggest delivery platforms out there. Hence, with the new acquisition, Uber eats gains even more power in the food delivery industry.
The deal between the two companies is an all-stock one, estimated at $2.65 billion. Moreover, Uber has declared that it plans to run the Postmates alongside its own Uber eats. However, the company plans to merge some of the tech and delivery operations at the back end. For example, drivers will now be delivering orders for both businesses.
This deal came after weeks of reports linking the two companies. Moreover, it became even more believable since Uber had failed to acquire another competitor, Grubhub, who sold for $7.8 Billion to Just Eat Takeaway. Hence, the company decided to shift focus towards Postmates.
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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi gave a statement following the deal: “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. We’re thrilled to welcome Postmates to the Uber family as we innovate together to deliver better experiences for consumers”.
Postmates co-founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann said in his statement: “Over the past eight years we have been focused on a single mission. That is, to enable anyone to have anything delivered to them on-demand. Joining forces with Uber will continue that mission. We will continue to build Postmates while creating an even stronger platform that brings this mission to life for our customers. Uber and Postmates have been strong allies working together to advocate and create the best practices across our industry, especially for our couriers. Together we can ensure that as our industry continues to grow. This will be for the benefit of everyone in the communities we serve”.
With the deal now confirmed, what impact will it have on the food delivery industry? As two giants merge into one, Uber will now have access to a wider range of users and Postmates will benefit greatly from Uber’s technology. As the two combine, it could really be a match made in heaven. Uber said as much in a statement released by the company, stating that Postmates is “highly complementary” towards Uber eats, stating the different geographical focuses of the two companies and how both will be able to reach a wider audience and deliver a greater variety of goods and services together.
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