Uber, by swallowing Postmates, strengthens itself in the niche of meal deliveries - France 24

New York (AFP)

The American group Uber, which seeks to compensate for the collapse of its passenger transport activity since the start of the pandemic, is betting on home meal deliveries by buying the Postmates application for 2.65 billion dollars (2, € 34 billion).

To complete the services of his own subsidiary Uber Eats, he had already tried in the spring to take control of another larger American platform, Grubhub. But discussions had stalled over the price.

The passenger car giant (VTC) is trying to achieve profitability more quickly: in the first quarter, it again recorded a loss of 2.9 billion dollars (2.6 M EUR at current prices), and has dismissed about a quarter of its employees in May.

But Uber Eats took advantage of social distancing and containment measures, with sales up 53% to $ 819 million from January to March.

Even if the latter then represented only a still meager portion of the 3.5 billion in revenue accumulated in all, Uber is betting on its development.

"Around the world, the meal delivery ecosystem is large, dynamic, very competitive and growing," Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi said on a conference call Monday.

"Consumers and restaurants had already started to turn to deliveries before Covid-19, but the pandemic accelerated this trend and attracted new consumers and restaurants, many of whom had never considered the possibility of being delivered to to eat, "he added.

To encourage them, the apps offered major promotions.

According to preliminary results, orders from Uber Eats more than doubled in the second quarter compared to the previous year.

- DoorDash, Grubhub, EatStreet -

Meal and grocery delivery apps, which allow customers to have food delivered to their home quickly and at moderate cost, have grown rapidly in recent years.

They benefited from the large funding from investment companies as well as the presence of numerous delivery men, by bike, scooter or car.

Created nine years ago, Postmates struggled to resist the United States against its multiple rivals like DoorDash, GrubHub, Uber Eats, EatStreet or Delivery.com.

Uber had approached the American meal delivery platform Grubhub in May.

But it was the Anglo-Dutch group Just Eat Takeaway who finally swallowed it, in a share transaction valued at $ 7.3 billion.

Just Eat Takeaway, the result of a recent merger between the British Just Eat and the Dutch Takeaway, intends to impose itself against the British Deliveroo and Uber Eats in this landscape in full consolidation.

Uber plans to continue to operate the Postmates application separately.

But with the combination of the two platforms, consumers will benefit from a greater choice of restaurants and merchants while the deliverers will be offered more errands to perform, ensures the group.

The activities of the two companies are complementary with different geographic zones and clienteles, says Uber, who also highlights the strong links forged by Postmates with small and medium-sized restaurants.

Uber also hopes to be able to make the equivalent of $ 200 million in savings by bringing the two platforms closer.

Its action jumped about 5% in the first exchanges on the New York Stock Exchange.

The transaction has yet to receive the green light from authorities, including competition, but Uber hopes to finalize it in the first quarter of 2021.

© 2020 AFP