Shares of British food delivery firm Deliveroo jumped to their highest level in more than three years on Monday, after the company confirmed it had received a $3.6 billion takeover offer from U.S. firm DoorDash.
Deliveroo first made the announcement after European markets closed on Friday. In a follow-up update Monday, it said it was immediately suspending the £100 million ($133.5 million) share buyback program it had announced on March 18.
Deliveroo shares were up 17.6% to 172.4 pence at their highest since January 2022 at 11:18 a.m. U.K. time. The stock later pared gains slightly to close 16.5% higher on Monday.
Last week’s update revealed Deliveroo’s board received a cash offer from DoorDash on April 5 of 180 pence per Deliveroo share, valuing the company at around $3.6 billion, according to a CNBC calculation of LSEG data.
Deliveroo share price.
In a Friday statement, Deliveroo’s board said it had considered the proposal with advisers and that it would be “minded to recommend” it to shareholders if a firm offer was made, subject to other terms. It added that it was now in further discussions with DoorDash.
Deliveroo shares saw a sharp decline in 2022 after the company went public in London the previous year, with investors concerned about growth in the food delivery market in the post-Covid-19 era, intense industry competition and questions over worker rights in its gig economy model. The company’s stock has notched steady — though relatively muted — gains in the years since, remaining far from its peak of 386.1 pence per share in August 2021.
Deliveroo operates in markets including the U.K., France, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Singapore and Qatar. Its European regional competitors include Germany’s Delivery Hero – which sold its stake in Deliveroo in early 2024 — Uber Eats and Just Eat.
In March, Deliveroo reported its first-ever annual profit, swinging from a £10.9 million pre-tax loss in 2023 to a £12.2 million profit in 2024.
For its part, DoorDash posted annual net income attributable to shareholders of $123 million in full-year 2024 It currently operates primarily in the United States and Canada, along with some cities in Australia and New Zealand.
The food delivery industry is rife with takeovers of regional businesses, with DoorDash acquiring Finland’s Wolt in 2021 and Deliveroo recently selling parts of its Hong Kong business to Delivery Hero earlier this year. Just East is meanwhile set to be acquired by investment group Prosus.
‘Floperoo’
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said in a Monday note that a Deliveroo sale at the current offer of 180 pence per share would mean the company “will fail to shake off the ‘Floperoo’ tag it was saddled with after its disastrous IPO debut in 2021.”
“Even though Deliveroo has finally broken through into profitable territory, the prolonged bout of indigestion around its share price has continued… Deliveroo’s foray into grocery deliveries has helped it turn a profit but it’s still facing fierce rivals.”
The deal would also be “unappetising” for the U.K. government which is trying to boost the number of London-listed technology companies, and represent the latest in a run of exits, Streeter said.
However, analysts at Citi said they did not expect a DoorDash takeover of Deliveroo to face major regulatory hurdles since the companies do not have any operational geographic overlap.
