Grubhub (GRUB) – Get Report shares were lower after a report said the food-delivery company is disagreeing with Uber Technologies (UBER) – Get Report about certain antitrust concessions amid the companies’ talks to combine.
Meantime, CNBC also reported that European delivery companies Just Eat Takeaway.com and Delivery Hero are now vying for Grubhub.
Shares of Grubhub at last check were down 6.7% to $56.45, while Uber shares were off 1.8% to $36.56.
Last month Grubhub declined a takeover proposal from Uber. That deal would have issued 1.9 Uber shares for each Grubhub share.
The potential transaction has drawn the attention of government regulators, who are concerned about the hefty fees the companies charge restaurants and about the status of their workers.
Rep. David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, recently called the possible deal “a new low in pandemic profiteering.”
The food-delivery business at the two companies has thrived during the coronavirus pandemic.
Uber’s global ride-share business, however, is down about 70% from last year and the company has laid off thousands of workers and closed 45 offices.
Ride-hailing accounted for 75% of the company’s revenue before the pandemic.
Neither Grubhub nor Uber immediately responded to requests for comment.
The Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com is working with Bank of America as an adviser, CNBC said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Just Eat Takeaway.com has a market capitalization of more than $6 billion after the U.K-based delivery service Just Eat merged with Amsterdam’s Takeaway.com.
A Delivery Hero spokesman told CNBC last week that, “being a global leader in the delivery industry, we are regularly looking at potential transactions to evaluate new opportunities.”
Last week, Uber launched a feature of its Uber Eats food delivery app to enable U.S. and Canadian customers for the rest of the year to order from black-owned restaurants with free delivery.
*by Rob Leninah via The Street*
