BERLIN, Germany: Uber has agreed to acquire Germany's Delivery Hero in a deal valuing the food-delivery company at about US$14.8 billion, creating the world's largest food-delivery platform outside China as the industry continues to consolidate.

The acquisition strengthens Uber's global food-delivery business as it seeks to compete more effectively with Prosus-owned Just Eat and U.S. rival DoorDash, which has been expanding aggressively.

According to Delivery Hero, the combined company will operate across 99 countries with a pro forma gross merchandise value (GMV) of $236 billion in 2025.

"Together, we'll nearly double the number of markets where we offer both mobility and delivery services," Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a joint statement.

Uber, already Delivery Hero's largest shareholder, has made the acquisition conditional on securing acceptance from holders of at least 50 percent plus one share.

The transaction, which has the backing of Delivery Hero's management and supervisory board, is expected to close in the second half of 2027.

Uber is offering 41.50 euros per share, representing about a 34 percent premium to Delivery Hero's three-month volume-weighted average share price. The offer is about nine percent above the closing price on July 15 and nearly 40 percent above the stock's price before takeover discussions became public.

Shares of Delivery Hero were up 0.2 percent in afternoon trading, while Uber shares gained about 2 percent.

The acquisition expands Uber Eats across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America but is expected to face extensive antitrust scrutiny because of overlapping operations.

To help address competition concerns, Delivery Hero will sell operations in 14 markets to U.S. investment firm SSW Partners for about 1.4 billion euros. Major shareholder Prosus has also agreed to sell its nearly 17 percent stake.

Jefferies analysts said the expected completion date suggested a "long slow march" through regulatory reviews. "The use of a financial investor to get ahead of the antitrust questions could prove successful, though the long timeline to completion (2H27) suggests it won't be a straightforward review," the analysts wrote.

The agreement follows years of consolidation in the food-delivery sector, as companies seek greater scale amid a post-pandemic slowdown in demand and increasing pressure to improve profitability.

Excluding overlapping markets, the acquisition expands Uber's food-delivery network from 50 to 99 markets and adds a business that generated about $42 billion in gross bookings last year.

Delivery Hero, which owns brands including Talabat and PedidosYa, had rejected an earlier Uber proposal disclosed in May that valued the company at about 10 billion euros, or 33 euros per share.

"Joining forces with a strong partner now is the right move for Delivery Hero to best secure its future competitiveness," said Delivery Hero supervisory board chair Kristin Skogen Lund, citing the importance of scale in a "competitive" sector.

As part of the agreement, Uber committed to invest two billion euros in Germany through 2031 and to retain Delivery Hero's Berlin headquarters and workforce until at least 2029.