REUTERS: Uber Technologies is in negotiations to buy online food delivery company Grubhub in an all-stock deal, according to people familiar with the matter.
"This would be an aggressive move by Uber to take out a major competitor on the Uber Eats front and further consolidate its market position," Wedbush analysts said in a client note. Experts say consolidation is long overdue in the space, where demand from worried, home-bound consumers is surging. Uber Eats' first-quarter revenue soared more than 50per cent to US$819 million after restaurants across the country shuttered their dining rooms to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Last week, Grubhub said the restaurant industry was facing enormous challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, and vowed to use nearly all of its second-quarter profits to help drum up business for its restaurant partners.