Uber to acquire U.S. delivery service Postmates and pay $2.65 billion (about 2.35 billion euros). This was reported by the New York Times, citing two sources familiar with the planned deal. The acquisition could be announced as early as this Monday. Uber plans to combine Postmates with its own Uber Eats service and bring it together under the direction of the Uber manager responsible for it. Together, the two services would have a market share of around 37 percent in the U.S., writes the U.S. newspaper – that would be second place behind DoorDash.
Breakdown of Uber’s core business
While Uber’s core business – arranging rides in Uber drivers’ private cars – plummeted massively in the Corona crisis, in some cases by as much as 80 percent, prepared food delivery fared much better. The reason was the curfews and the closure of restaurants in many states. In part, a growth of almost 90 percent was achieved, the company had announced in early May. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi had already announced that he wanted to focus more on the business, but only in markets where Uber could safely become number 1 or 2. Uber Eats was therefore discontinued simultaneously in several states.
Due to the sharp downturn in business, Uber had announced as recently as May that it would cut 3700 full-time jobs, laying off nearly 15 percent of its own workforce. The Group’s cash balance shrank by 2.3 billion US dollars to just under nine billion in the first three months of the year alone, although the Corona crisis only really made itself felt from mid-March onwards.