Uber highlights Delivery Hero Middle East warehouses for $14.8B bid

Uber says Delivery Hero’s Middle East warehouses for fast grocery delivery are a key reason for its $14.8 billion takeover bid. On the company’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call, chief financial officer Balaji Krishnamurthy stated that “Delivery Hero has done a really good job with their dark store footprint in the Middle East,” identifying the regional quick-commerce network as an attraction of the proposed acquisition of the German delivery group. The agreed deal, announced in July 2026, values Delivery Hero at $14.8 billion on a fully diluted equity basis, or approximately $13.7 billion adjusted for Uber’s existing stake. Uber is offering €41.50 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions. It would expand Uber’s food-delivery and quick-commerce operations to a total of 99 markets, with the businesses Uber is acquiring having generated $42 billion in gross bookings in 2025. Combined pro-forma gross bookings for the enlarged group were stated at $236 billion for 2025. Under the structure, Uber would gain control of Talabat, which operates across eight markets including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan and Iraq, and of HungerStation, the wholly owned Saudi Arabian platform. Delivery Hero holds an 80 percent stake in the Dubai-listed Talabat. Operations in 14 other markets where Uber Eats and Delivery Hero already overlap are to be sold separately to SSW Partners for approximately $1.6 billion. Major shareholder Prosus has irrevocably committed to tender its stake, which would bring Uber’s economic interest to around 53 percent if the offer succeeds. Dark stores are warehouses used exclusively for online order fulfilment rather than in-store retail. Delivery Hero opened close to 90 such facilities during 2026, taking its global network to approximately 900 by an October trading update. Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the quick-commerce business had reached breakeven and was growing attractively, and that the fulfilment operation offers a “better handle on inventory.” Krishnamurthy added that Uber would assess dark stores market by market according to local conditions and returns on assets, while continuing to work with grocery retailers in other places. The Middle East region generated 59 percent of Delivery Hero’s first-half adjusted EBITDA. In Saudi Arabia, HungerStation has reported that its quick-commerce business, including groceries and pharmacies, was growing by more than 100 percent annually, with customer engagement nearly doubling over two years as the platform expanded beyond restaurant delivery. For operators and investors in the Gulf the practical change is that Uber has publicly identified Delivery Hero’s existing dark-store network in the Middle East as a material part of the rationale for a $14.8 billion bid that would place Talabat and HungerStation under its control. The value of that change depends on whether the dark-store economics hold after integration, whether Uber retains or expands the warehouse footprint in individual markets, and whether the quick-commerce contribution continues to support the profitability mix that currently makes the region a large share of Delivery Hero’s adjusted earnings. The comments were made on an earnings call and do not constitute a commitment to specific store counts, capital expenditure or market-by-market decisions. If the next update from Uber or Delivery Hero reports the number of dark stores retained or added in the Middle East, actual quick-commerce margins post-close, or capital allocated to the warehouse network, the stated rationale has a measurable next step. If subsequent statements only restate the existence of the bid and the general attraction of the footprint, the change for the market remains the same as the current earnings-call remarks. The figures missing from the current disclosure are the exact number and locations of Middle East dark stores, their individual contribution to the 59 percent EBITDA share, and any binding plans for expansion or rationalisation after closing. The warehouse network is one stated reason for the bid; the operational outcome will be clear only from later integration and performance data.