Zomato Acquires Uber Eats India Business For $350 Million

Uber Eats, the food delivery service from Uber -- a multinational ride-hailing company is now a part of Zomato. Zomato bought Uber Eats' India business for ~ $350miilion or Rs. 2,485 crores. Do note that, this is an all-stock transaction, which means a total of 10 percent Zomato share now belongs to Uber Eats and no hard cash exchange.

After the recent funding of $150 million by Ant Finacial, Zomato is currently valued at $3 billion. Uber Eats, even after a year of operation was spending $20 million every month with very low returns. In the last five months alone, Uber Eats has taken a loss of Rs 2,197 crore.

From today onwards (January 21st, 2020), Uber Eats will stop its operations. Besides, those who visit Uber Eats service will be redirected to Zomato. Do note that, Zomato will not absorb 100 plus executives working at Uber Eats. They might get a new role at Zomato or the company might fire them in the coming days.

This is definitely a great deal for Zomato, as it now enjoys a whopping 50 to 55 percent market share, making it the market leader in the food delivery service. The company expects to see over 90 percent of Uber Eats transactions will be transitioned to Zomato.

With this deal, Zomato will have a stronger presence in markets like MP, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, where Uber Eats had a strong footprint. This morning, after receiving the mail, I tried to open the Uber Eats app and I was greeted with a message.

What Does This Means To Customers?

Customers will now be redirected to Zomato when they try to order from Uber Eats. One less app on their smartphone, that's all. However, with just two major food delivery players in the country, these services might increase various prices, which might affect the end-user.

Via