In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, two of the food industry’s leading delivery services are now joining. Uber announced on Monday plans to buy the food-delivering service Postmates in a deal worth $2.65 billion in hopes to recover from coronavirus losses.
Uber’s food delivery service Uber Eats has become the primary money-maker for Uber since March, when worldwide stay-at-home orders crippled demand for the ride-sharing service. With Uber Eats and Postmates combining, they would represent 30% of the food delivery market share. The current market leader is DoorDash, which holds about 45%.
"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," said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a press release.
Uber has been attempting to purchase smaller food-delivering companies in different markets in the last couple of years to take out competitors and consolidate its market position. Most recently, Uber tried and failed to acquire Grubhub. Back in 2019, the company purchased Chilean grocery-delivery service Cornershop in a deal set to close soon.
"Joining forces with Uber will continue that mission as we continue to build Postmates while creating an even stronger platform that brings this mission to life for our customers,” said Postmates CEO Bastian Lehmann in a press release. “Uber and Postmates have been strong allies working together to advocate and create the best practices across our industry, especially for our couriers."
The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2021, pending approval from relevant regulatory agencies and shareholders.