Uber's €10 Billion Pursuit of Delivery Hero: Stake Timeline, Rejected Bids, and the Fight to Compete With DoorDash

This final purchase kept Uber's voting rights just under the 30% threshold defined by German takeover law, which would trigger a mandatory tender offer to all other shareholders .

The Rejected Bids and the Pricing Standoff

Uber's initial formal approach met immediate resistance:

• May 23, 2026 – Delivery Hero confirmed it received an indicative, non-binding proposal from Uber at €33 per share, valuing the company at roughly €10 billion (about $11.6 billion) . The offer was only three cents above Delivery Hero's closing price the day before .
• Shareholder pushback – Major investors, including Prosus (which still held roughly 17% after its sale to Uber) and Aspex Management, demanded over €40 per share as the floor for any deal .
• A private, higher bid was also rejected – Uber reportedly made a private approach to one of Delivery Hero's largest shareholders at €38 per share (implying a valuation of roughly €11.5 billion), which was also rebuffed .
• Aspex buyout signals the real price – Uber effectively paid just under €40 per share to acquire Aspex's entire stake, signaling the premium it may need to offer in a full bid to win over other holdouts .

Delivery Hero's board has stated it "remains fully focused on executing its strategic review process" and has not accepted any proposal . As of the latest reports, Uber is said to be weighing a higher bid, but no revised offer has been formally announced .

Pivoting Strategy: Pausing European Expansion and Planning Asset Sales

To overcome its two main obstacles — shareholder resistance and antitrust scrutiny — Uber has shifted its strategy in two notable ways:

European expansion paused

• July 5, 2026 – The Financial Times reported that Uber has paused the majority of its planned food delivery expansion in Europe just months after announcing those plans, in order to focus resources on the Delivery Hero pursuit . The pause covers five of seven targeted European countries, including Austria, Norway, and Greece. The full list of five countries has not been confirmed in available reporting .

Regulatory strategy: asset sales to preempt antitrust concerns

• June 12, 2026 – Bloomberg reported that Uber has been reaching out to potential buyers for Delivery Hero's regional businesses across Latin America, Asia, and Europe in an effort to smooth regulatory approval for a full takeover . The sale of overlapping operations is seen as an antitrust mitigation strategy, as the combined company would need sign-off from regulators in multiple jurisdictions .

The Strategic Prize: Countering DoorDash Globally

A successful takeover would give Uber control over Delivery Hero's brands — including Glovo, Talabat, and Foodpanda — adding them to Uber Eats' network and expanding its international food delivery footprint well beyond 60 countries . The deal is widely viewed as Uber's central strategic move to compete more effectively with DoorDash outside the United States .

Major Obstacles and Open Questions

• The Prosus challenge – Prosus, still a major Delivery Hero shareholder, is reportedly considering bolstering its own stake once again to impede Uber's takeover, creating a fresh obstacle .
• CEO succession – Delivery Hero announced in early May 2026 that its CEO will step down by March 2027, following significant shareholder pressure over the company's strategic direction .
• No deal yet – Delivery Hero has not accepted any proposal. Uber has not formally announced a revised offer, leaving the stalemate unresolved .

Key Uncertainties

The exact list of the five paused European countries (beyond Austria, Norway, and Greece) has not been fully confirmed in the search results . The specific asset-sale targets in Latin America and Asia have not been named publicly . Any revised bid from Uber remains speculative at this stage.

The next phase of this saga will likely hinge on whether Uber can persuade holdout shareholders — particularly Prosus and the remaining Aspex-aligned investors — to accept a price below €40, or if it will have to raise its bid to the level those investors have set as their floor.