Last year, in September, Delivery Hero announced that it would acquire the Latin America operations of Glovo – Barcelona-based on-demand delivery startup – for up to €230M, including a €60M performance-based earn-out.
Today, Glovo has announced a series of separate acquisition deals with Berlin-based food delivery platform Delivery Hero, to acquire some of its group companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
Speaking on the development, Niklas Östberg, CEO & co-founder of Delivery Hero, says, “Delivery Hero has built a clear leading business in the Balkan region in the last couple of years. However, with a lot of operational priorities on our plate, we believe Glovo would be better positioned to continue building an amazing experience for our customers in this region.”
Glovo’s acquisition spree
According to Glovo, the development of these multiple acquisitions is its long-term strategy to focus on markets where it can build a sustainable business and offer huge growth opportunities.
Oscar Pierre, CEO and co-founder of Glovo, says, “It’s always been central to our long-term strategy to focus on markets where we see clear opportunities to lead and where we can build a sustainable business. Central and Eastern Europe is a very important part of that plan. The region has really embraced on-demand delivery platforms, and we’re very excited to be strengthening our presence and increasing our footprint in countries that continue to show enormous potential for growth.”
The company will acquire the Foodpanda brand in Romania and Bulgaria, the Donesi brand in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Pauza in Croatia in deals worth a total value of €170M.
The deals in Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia are expected to close within the next few weeks, while Romania will be completed following approval from the competition authority.
Recent developments
Glovo reports that recently, in a separate deal, it has also acquired Slovenia-based Ehrana, a local delivery company, for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to close in the coming few months. Glovo is now working closely with Ehrana to define the transition strategy for users, partners and couriers.
The deal follows Glovo’s recent funding of €450M in its Series F round of funding led by New York-based investment managers Lugard Road Capital and the Luxor Capital Group. The company had mentioned that it will invest the amount in expanding its services in 20 markets in which it currently operates. It is currently operational in countries including Spain, Italy, Peru, Ukraine, Romania, Ecuador, Georgia, Costa Rica, Portugal, Poland, Morocco, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Kenya, Côte D’Ivoire, Honduras, Serbia, Moldova, Uganda, and Kyrgyzstan.
Earlier this year, the company also announced a €100M partnership with Swiss-based real estate firm Stoneweg to grow its network of dark stores and the hiring of a new CTO, Narek Verdian, who recently served as vice-president of engineering at American Express. Verdian will oversee the expansion of the engineering team from 300 to 500 at Glovo’s Barcelona headquarters and its tech hubs in Madrid and Warsaw.
Get anything delivered
Founded in 2015 by Gerard Olive, Miguel Vicente, Oscar Pierre, and Sacha Michaud, Glovo connects customers with independent local couriers, who acquire goods from any restaurant or shop in a city. In addition, the company also delivers urgent packages for a variable fee.
To date, the delivery platform has delivered more than 190 million multi-category orders globally, as mentioned on its website. And, in 2020, it experienced a growth rate of more than 300 per cent year-on-year.
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