Zomato Media Pvt. Ltd, which owns the online food delivery and restaurant discovery platform, will sell its UAE food delivery business to Germany’s Delivery Hero Group for about $172 million, the Indian startup’s second-largest shareholder Info Edge (India) Ltd said on Monday.
Zomato and Delivery Hero will subsequently enter into a service agreement, under which Zomato will continue to run the business on its own platform, Info Edge added.
After the deal closes, Info Edge will own a 26.38% stake in Zomato. Even though Zomato is present in 24 countries, it operates its food delivery business only in the UAE and India.
This gives Zomato the much-needed funds to compete with its arch-rival Swiggy in India. Swiggy recently secured $1 billion from its biggest investor Naspers, valuing the company at $3.3 billion. Interestingly, Naspers is also an investor in Delivery Hero. Zomato has raised an additional $105 million in its ongoing funding round with new investors, including Delivery Hero and Glade Brook Capital.
Zomato’s UAE business is operated by its subsidiary Talabat Middle East, which will continue to own and run its other businesses.
Zomato and Swiggy are locked in intense competition in India’s food delivery market, with the latter securing a lead. According to industry executives, Swiggy clocked about 25 million monthly orders in December, whereas Zomato processed about 21 million. Moreover, Swiggy is in talks to acquire the India business of Uber Eats, signaling a consolidation in the Indian food delivery space.
Source: Mint