Foodpanda owner in talks to sell part of Asia business, Grab reportedly a potential buyer

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Delivery Hero, the Berlin-based owner of online food and grocery delivery company foodpanda, is discussing a potential sale of its Asia business, according to the company when MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out. The deal is still under negotiations but it was reported that tech platform Grab could pay the equivalent of as much as a billion euros for the unit.

"Delivery Hero confirms negotiations with several parties regarding a potential sale of its foodpanda business in selected Southeast Asia markets," it said. "Any discussions or plans are in their preliminary stages."

According to German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche, these markets include Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand.

Don't miss: Have you seen this 3D ad by foodpanda in Bugis? It's bananas

The news that talks were underway caused shares in foodpanda to lift as much as 13.5%, according to Reuters. Delivery Hero, on the other hand, reported that it has achieved a positive adjusted profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 0.2% in Q2 2023 after group cost allocation earlier this month.

The group also reported that its Asia segment returned to positive gross merchandise value (GMV) growth at 2% YoY, despite tough comparable numbers.

The news comes shortly after foodpanda partnered with some of Singapore's biggest supermarket chains to expand shopping options on the platform locally.

As part of the partnership, foodpanda users will now be able to shop for close to 20,000 grocery items combined from Cold Storage, CS Fresh and Giant island-wide, with the same price offered in-store and with delivery within an hour. They will also get to earn yuu Points on foodpanda transactions made across over 20,000 restaurants and merchants in Singapore.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Grab and Delivery Hero for more information.

Should Grab go through with the deal, it will continue its lead in the food delivery and transport segment in Asia. Recently, in Singapore, Grab stated that it will be acquiring Trans-Cab. It will acquire 100% of the shares in Trans-Cab in this deal, it said in a statement at the time.

The acquisition includes Trans-Cab’s taxi and car rental business, maintenance workshop, and fuel pump operations as well as its combined taxi and private-hire-vehicle (PHV) fleet of more than 2,500 vehicles.

“Consumer behaviours have shifted and we’ve recognised for some time the need to digitise the business and ensure our taxi drivers can continue to be competitive. We are confident this deal protects their future,” said Jasmine Tan, general manager of Trans-Cab at the time. “Grab’s industry-leading tech will help our taxi drivers drive more productively and safely while serving their passengers better. We know that Grab cares deeply about their driver-partners, just as we do. We are entering this deal with full assurance that Grab will do their best to safeguard the livelihoods of our taxi drivers.

The nature of the deal led to Singapore's competition watchdog, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) looking into Grab's proposed acquisition, according to minister of state for trade and industry Alvin Tan in August this year.

Responding to a question from Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai, Tan said in Parliament that CCCS received Grab’s notification of its proposed acquisition of Singapore’s largest taxi operators, Trans-Cab. He explained that it will assess the impact of the proposed acquisition on competition and consult relevant stakeholders before reaching a decision on the matter.

“CCCS will assess the impact of the proposed acquisition on competition and consult relevant stakeholders before reaching a decision on the matter,” he said, adding that a public consultation will be done and that members of the public will be able to provide feedback.

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