SAN FRANCISCO: DoorDash Inc is hungry. The biggest meal-delivery service in the United States said it’s buying Finnish food-delivery startup Wolt Enterprises Oy for about US$8bil (RM33bil) as it seeks to stay ahead of rivals in the race to satisfy soaring demand for fast delivery of everything from food to prescriptions and pet supplies.
The all-stock deal is DoorDash’s biggest purchase to date, eclipsing the acquisition of Caviar in 2019. It’s the latest merger in the quickly consolidating food-delivery market, which has benefited handsomely during the pandemic, but where profits are elusive. Last year saw Europe’s Just Eat Takeaway.com NV buy Grubhub for US$7.3bil (RM30.3bil) while Uber Technologies Inc snapped up Postmates Inc for US$2.65bil (RM11bil).