Some of Europe’s emerging technology businesses were founded by people who worked for Delivery Hero or other brands now in its portfolio. An October study by Dealroom found that current and former employees of those businesses have founded 150 startups with a combined enterprise value of €7.5bn (about £6.3bn). Together, they employ about 11,000 people worldwide. More than 30 alumni are now investing in other startups. But Delivery Hero itself may soon have an American owner.
Uber has launched a takeover offer valuing the company at about €13bn (£11bn), which Delivery Hero’s boards recommend accepting. Shareholders have until 5 November to tender their shares. Completion is expected in the second half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.
Delivery Hero’s proposed takeover turns attention to the choices facing European tech firms as they expand. Independent growth demands investment and access to customers across a market that remains divided by national rules.
Uber’s offer gives Delivery Hero shareholders the chance to sell, while a larger owner could bring the company additional resources. Uber has committed to keeping Delivery Hero’s Berlin headquarters until at least 2029, and to making commercially reasonable efforts to invest €2bn (about £1.7bn) in Germany through 2031. Under a separate, conditional agreement, operations in 14 markets would pass to SSW Partners rather than Uber.
The difficulty of staying independent
Zach Meyers, director of research at the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), rejects using merger rules to favour European tech firms, whether by allowing more consolidation or trying to block foreign buyers. Competition authorities, he argues, should remain neutral.
“If we want European companies to scale, then we should not stop them getting acquired,” Meyers writes. He believes that blocking takeovers could discourage entrepreneurs from starting businesses in Europe. “Instead, we need to create the conditions for tech firms to scale independently.”
Different national rules and fragmented capital markets make it harder for European companies to grow independently. Founders may succeed at home but struggle to raise the money or navigate the bureaucracy needed to expand across borders. Mario Draghi’s 2024 competitiveness report noted that close to 30% of unicorns founded in Europe between 2008 and 2021 had relocated their headquarters abroad. Relocation is not the same as acquisition, but both suggest that Europe has work to do to remain an attractive base for growing businesses.
Meyers also cautions against treating EU regulation as the sole explanation.
“Europe’s decline in tech leadership started well before many of today’s EU tech rules were in place,” he says, distinguishing between regulation that protects smaller competitors and the barriers that prevent them from expanding. Common rules can make it easier to operate across Europe, but national differences still add costs and complexity.
A market that works at scale
The European Commission’s proposed ‘EU Inc.’ framework, introduced in March, would create an optional set of common company rules to make it easier to set up and run a business across the single market. The proposal still needs approval. Simpler company rules alone will not give businesses the investment or customers they need.
Delivery Hero’s future may be decided by its shareholders and regulators, but the conditions facing Europe’s next generation of technology companies are being shaped elsewhere: in capital markets, national regulations and the barriers that still divide the single market. Europe has spent years debating how to produce its own technology champions. Giving those businesses the room to become global companies on their own terms is still unfinished business..
Some of Europe's emerging technology businesses were founded by people who worked for Delivery Hero or other brands now in its portfolio. An October study by Dealroom found that current and former employees of those businesses have founded 150 startups with a combined enterprise value of €7.5bn (about £6.3bn). Together, they employ about 11,000 people worldwide. More than 30 alumni are now investing in other startups. But Delivery Hero itself may soon have an American owner.
Uber has launched a takeover offer valuing the company at about €13bn (£11bn), which Delivery Hero's boards recommend accepting. Shareholders have until 5 November to tender their shares. Completion is expected in the second half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.
Delivery Hero's proposed takeover turns attention to the choices facing European tech firms as they expand. Independent growth demands investment and access to customers across a market that remains divided by national rules.
