Inside the contest over Delivery Hero's Middle East arm

Published: 2026-06-14T04:00:00.000Z

What started as a clean takeover plan has turned into one of the most tangled bidding contests in global delivery. Uber has spent months working toward a full acquisition of Delivery Hero, only to find Ninja, DoorDash and Prosus circling its most valuable assets, with the Middle East at the center.

What started out as a relatively clean takeover plan has turned into one of the most tangled bidding contests in the global delivery industry, and the Middle East sits right in the middle of it. Uber has spent months working toward a full acquisition of the German group Delivery Hero, only to find a growing line of suitors circling its most valuable assets. The newest is Ninja, the Riyadh based quick commerce unicorn, which is reportedly weighing a bid for parts of Delivery Hero's Middle East business. Add in DoorDash and the South African investor Prosus, and what was once Uber's deal to lose has become a genuine multi player race. Uber's interest is long standing and patient. After its initial $13.7 billion takeover approach was rebuffed in 2024, the company quietly bought shares on the open market until its stake in Delivery Hero reached roughly 37 percent, making it the largest single shareholder. The logic is straightforward, since Delivery Hero owns some of the strongest delivery brands in the region, including Talabat across markets like the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, and HungerStation in Saudi Arabia, and people close to the matter have valued the sum of its separate parts, including South Korea, at more than 17 billion euros, well above the company's current market capitalization. In other words, the assets are worth more apart than together, which is exactly the kind of math that draws competing bidders. Ninja's potential move carries the most narrative weight. The Saudi unicorn was founded in 2022 by Ebrahim Al-Jassim, who originally built HungerStation before a long dispute ended with Delivery Hero buying him out, and reclaiming his old company would close a remarkable loop. Reporting suggests Ninja is exploring two paths, acquiring HungerStation outright as an easier first step, or teaming up with another group to take parts of Talabat. The Saudi unit is the cleaner target, since it slots more naturally into Ninja's existing operations and would likely face fewer regulatory hurdles than a regional grab. The wider field is just as crowded. DoorDash has been examining the Middle East arm, and Prosus, until recently Delivery Hero's largest shareholder, is reportedly considering increasing its stake to derail Uber's effort. Uber, for its part, is now sounding out potential buyers for Delivery Hero assets in Latin America, Asia and Europe, a tactic aimed at smoothing the regulatory path toward a full takeover. Talabat's December 2024 listing in Dubai, which raised about $2 billion from a 20 percent sale, is another complication, since any deal will have to respect public shareholders. The regional read is unmistakable. The Gulf has become a key prize in the global delivery game, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE among the fastest growing markets anywhere. Whoever ends up controlling this infrastructure, foreign giant or homegrown unicorn, will shape how millions of people get their meals and groceries for years.