In a deal that would combine the two biggest meal-delivery players in the US at a time when the corona pandemic has sparked a surge in demand for their services, Uber - which in addition to its flagship ride business operates a big meal-delivery unit known as Uber Eats - has made an offer to acquire Grubhub, Bloomberg and the WSJ reported.
According to the report, the companies - which have been engaged in talks since earlier this year- could reach an agreement as soon as this month, although deliberations are still ongoing and talks could still fall through. Should a deal be struck, it would reshape the meal-delivery business, a key pillar of the new economy whose prominence has been heightened by the pandemic.
Shares of both companies surged in response, with Grubhub shares spiking as much as 37% after being temporarily halted, valuing the company at $5.6 billion, while $57 billion Uber, which last week reported earnings that showed little cash flow improvement in its own Uber Eats unit despite a surge in revenue, rose as much as 4.1%.
As a reminder, last week Uber said it was shuttering its own food-delivery unit, Uber Eats. Those markets represented 1% of Uber Eats gross bookings and 4% of the company's EBITDA.
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