In a deal that would give Zomato adequate war chest to take on its cash rich rival Swiggy, the company has sold its UAE business to German food delivery brand Delivery Hero. The deal has been reportedly closed for close to $120Mn with the latter investing additional capital (~$105 Million) in Zomato’s India business.
The acquisition and additional investment from Delivery Hero finally marks the close of a long drawn $350 Million round that Zomato was looking to raise. This round values one of India’s oldest startups at close to $2 Billion. Incidentally, Delivery Hero is backed by Naspers, which is an existing investor in Swiggy. Shouldn’t be surprising in times when number of big ticket investors are limited and most startups (including rivals) raising money from same set of people (Uber and its rivals are the highlight of this trend).
Niklas Östberg, CEO of Delivery Hero, said, “Zomato has built a successful food delivery business in the UAE and India on the back of its restaurant search and discovery app and website. The acquisition will allow us to further improve our service to customers in the UAE. We are also excited to become a shareholder in Zomato’s rapid food delivery growth story in India and share our learnings.”
Once the acquisition materializes, Delivery Hero will take over Zomato’s UAE entity, Talabat Middle East. The entity however, will continue to own and run its allied businesses, which include Zomato Gold and ad sales, among others. This acquisition will add close to $2 Million in monthly revenue and over 1.2 Million monthly orders to Delivery Hero’s existing Middle east and North Africa business.
