Uber Technologies Inc. has acquired Postmates in a $2.65 billion deal. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Vice President of Uber Eats will be in charge of the newly established combined food delivery business. Also, the CEO of Postmates, Bastian Lehmann will manage Postmates as a separate food delivery company owned by Uber.
Postmates is one of the earliest food delivery company in the US. Sam Street, Sean Plaice, and Bastian Lehmann co-founded Postmates in 2011. That same year, its customers in the US were able to use its app to order for meal delivery services.
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Postmates has a user base of 500,000 recurrent customers, who are served by 600,000 merchants across the states. However, the company has failed to go public due to business losses and intensified competition. It raised private capital last year and was valued at $2.4 billion.
Uber has been focusing on its food delivery subsidiary as a result of the global disruption caused by COVID-19 on its other business arms. It had to suspend pooled rides to limit the spread of coronavirus, following the issuance of lockdown directives around the world.
Uber wanted to acquire US-based, Grubhub for US$ 7.3 Billion, but lost the to Just Eat Takeaway, a European delivery service provider. Postmates acquisition will help Uber regain ground in the food delivery ecosystem.
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