Ten firms have been called in for Uber's $14.8bn takeover bid for Delivery Hero, a deal that would create the largest food-delivery group outside China.
Freshfields and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz are advising Uber, already Delivery Hero's top shareholder, with Cooley called in for advice on the financing aspects of the deal.
Meanwhile, Sullivan & Cromwell is serving as legal counsel to Delivery Hero, with Clifford Chance advising on antitrust and regulatory matters and Morrison Foerster acting for the Berlin-based company's supervisory board.
In a bid to smooth the path for regulatory approval, Delivery Hero has agreed to sell its business in 14 markets where it competes with Uber Eats to New York investment firm SSW Partners for about €1.4bn. Paul Weiss, Germany's Hengeler Mueller, Baker Botts and Gibson Dunn are serving as legal counsel to SSW.
The acquisition furthers Uber's ambition to build a global food-delivery business as it faces increasing competition from fast-growing US rival DoorDash and Just Eat, owned by Dutch group Prosus.
It would create a platform spanning 99 countries with a combined pro forma gross merchandise value (GMV) of $236bn in 2025, Delivery Hero said in a statement, approaching Chinese giant Meituan's 2025 platform GMV of 1.67trn yuan ($246.5bn), according to Reuters.
"Together, we’ll nearly double the number of markets where we offer both mobility and delivery services, scaling a proven platform that we believe will create significant long-term value for our customers and shareholders,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement.
The €41.50 per-share offer represents a roughly 34% premium on Delivery Hero's three-month volume-weighted average share price prior to the deal's announcement, the company said. Uber has made the offer subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 50% plus one share.
The transaction, which is supported by Delivery Hero's management and supervisory board, is likely to face a thorny regulatory process, with completion expected in the second half of 2027.
The S&C team advising Delivery Hero was led out of Frankfurt by global capital markets co-head Carsten Berrar and M&A and private equity partner Florian Späth.
Clifford Chance's team was led by London-based partners Nelson Jung, head of the UK antitrust practice, and Stavroula Vryna, while Morrison Foerster's effort was headed by Berlin M&A partner Dirk Besse.
On Uber's side, the Wachtell team was led by corporate partners Andrew Nussbaum, co-chair of the firm's executive committee, and Ahsan Barkatullah.
The Paul Weiss team advising SSW was headed by New York M&A partners Kyle Seifried, Andrew Krause and Daniel Yip, while Baker Botts' effort was led out of Washington DC by antitrust partner John Taladay and out of Brussels by global antitrust co-chair Catriona Hatton. Gibson Dunn's team was led by New York partner Eric Sloan, co-chair of the firm's tax practice.
Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank are serving as lead financial advisors to Uber, with Bank of America and Goldman Sachs also serving as financial advisors to Uber. Affiliates of Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank are providing the committed bridge facility to Uber. Evercore is serving as financial advisor to SSW and JP Morgan is the exclusive financial advisor to Delivery Hero.
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