HomeAcquisitionsDelivery Hero buys majority stake of Barcelona-based unicorn Glovo

Delivery Hero buys majority stake of Barcelona-based unicorn Glovo

New year new acquisitions! Barcelona-based unicorn Glovo has begun 2022 with a massive change in its shareholding, announcing on New Year’s Eve an acquisition agreement with Berlin’s Delivery Hero that values the startup at €2.3 billion.

Delivery Hero, an existing shareholder in Glovo previously owning around 44% of shares, has now taken on an additional 39.4% – taking 83.4% control of the Catalan company. The agreement between the two fast-growing companies will make it possible to serve a  population of 2.2 billion – of which Glovo contributes 700 million. 

Growing 80% in 2021 with more than €800 million in revenue, Glovo currently operates in 1300 cities across 25 countries in Europe, Central Asia and Africa, with 15 million active users. Founded in 2015, the young company has enjoyed impressive growth and has been a real stand-out personality in the ecommerce crowd as well as in the European startup ecosystem as a whole. In April 2021, Glovo raised an impressive €450 million and has been a member of the unicorn club since 2019. 

Oscar Pierre, Glovo founder, stated: “I’m delighted to have found a partner that shares our ambition and culture and that will continue supporting us in this adventure we have started, to continue promoting innovation, strengthen our multi-category offer and add value to all our stakeholders and the rest of the industry”.  

Oscar Pierre also talked to us in 2020 as the pandemic took hold – an event that completely transformed the food delivery game. 

Founded in 2011, Berlin-based Delivery Hero is an ultra-fast food delivery platform with operations in 50 countries across the world. The German startup is considered a pioneering global leader in the food delivery space. We chatted to founder and CEO Niklas Östberg back in 2018 to find out more about their secret to success. 

This is big news in the city food delivery market and marks another step towards consolidation in the sector. Delivery Hero, a publicly-traded company listed on the German stock market, also recently made investments into Berlin-based Gorillas and with this new majority control of Glovo are certainly making moves in the global delivery industry.

The two delivery titans certainly have always had a close bond. In May 2021, Delivery Hero actually sold its business to Glovo in several countries in the CEE market – including Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia. At the end of 2020, Glovo had transferred its subsidiaries in LATAM to Delivery Hero.

In this deal, Glovo will main its rand and continue to operate with its existing app and current executive team. The deal is expected to reach a final close in the second trimester of 2022.  

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Patricia Allen
Patricia Allen
is the Head of Content at EU-Startups. With a background in politics, Patricia has a real passion for how shared ideas across communities and cultures can bring new initiatives and innovations for the future. She spends her time bringing you the latest news and updates of startups across Europe, and curating our social media.
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