Battle for Delivery Hero Heats Up: Shareholders Demand 40 Euros, DoorDash Enters the Fray

Delivery Hero's largest shareholders demand €40 per share, clashing with Uber's €33 offer. DoorDash mulls counterbid as stock surges. Regulatory hurdles loom.

Delivery Hero’s largest shareholders are digging in their heels. Prosus, with a near-17% stake, and Aspex Management, controlling just over 14% of voting rights, have made it clear they consider 40 euros a share the floor for any takeover. That puts them at loggerheads with Uber, which last weekend convened its board to discuss raising its informal 33-euro offer. The US ride-hailing giant, now Delivery Hero’s biggest single investor at 19.5%, wants to cement global leadership in food delivery and keep US rival DoorDash at bay in Europe and Asia. But DoorDash has other ideas.

Speculation over a counterbid has already pushed the stock well past Uber’s first bid. The shares hit a fresh 52-week high of 37.66 euros on Monday, and have surged more than 91% from a March trough of 14.99 euros. Intraday on the same day, the stock touched 37.85 euros. Market chatter, fueled by reports in the Financial Times, points to DoorDash mulling a bid of up to 38 euros — possibly for a partial acquisition focused on Talabat, Delivery Hero’s prized MENA subsidiary.

Analysts are split on fair value. Citigroup, using a sum-of-the-parts model, sees just 31.50 euros, well below the current price. Barclays and Jefferies, on the other hand, peg fair value above 40 euros, arguing the recent rally still understates the takeover premium. The company’s improving fundamentals back the more bullish view: adjusted EBITDA is expected to hit roughly one billion euros in 2026, net debt has fallen to around 1.4 billion euros, and a cash pile of 2.81 billion euros leaves the balance sheet strong.

The boardroom drama extends beyond price. Chief executive Niklas Östberg is set to depart in March 2027, and a deep restructuring is under way. That includes shifting focus to core profitability after a planned sale of the Taiwan business to Uber fell apart in 2025 due to regulatory obstacles. The collapse cost Delivery Hero a 212-million-euro cancellation fee — a reminder that any future deal will face heavy scrutiny from competition authorities across the 60-plus countries where the company operates.

A key threshold looms: under German takeover law, Uber would be required to make a mandatory offer to all shareholders if its voting stake exceeds 30%. That gives Prosus and Aspex strong leverage to hold out for their 40-euro target. The next moves are expected in the coming weeks, with the management team set to meet institutional investors at roadshows today with J.P. Morgan, UBS and Berenberg. The tone of those discussions will signal whether the board is willing to pursue an independent future or is actively courting higher bids.

Whoever ultimately prevails — Uber, DoorDash or another suitor — will have to navigate a regulatory minefield. The European Commission is certain to take a close look at any consolidation of this scale, and Delivery Hero’s failed Taiwan deal shows just how quickly hurdles can appear. For now, shareholders are betting that the bidding war has further to run.