Grab a potential suitor for Foodpanda


German parent of delivery business reportedly looks to sell Asean operation for €1 billion

BERLIN: The German owner of the Foodpanda delivery brand is in advanced talks on a partial sale of its Asia business, a German business magazine reported on Wednesday, saying Singapore-based Grab could be the buyer for a little over 1 billion euros.

Berlin-based Delivery Hero was considering selling its Foodpanda operations in Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines, according to Wirtschaftswoche, which cited sources familiar with the matter.

Investors in the online takeaway food company welcomed the report, lifting its shares as much as 13.5%.

Delivery Hero and Grab did not immediately reply to emailed requests for comment.

Delivery Hero has been focusing on reaching profitability while maintaining growth as investor confidence in the company started to wane after a pandemic-driven boost.

The group has said that it made an adjusted profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) in the first six months of this year, although it did not quantify it, after a loss of 323 million euros in the same period a year earlier.

Last month, chief executive Niklas Oestberg said that Asia was the area where the company saw the most opportunity to invest.

Grab posted US$567 million in revenue in the quarter that ended June 30 and expects to break even on an adjusted core earnings basis in the current quarter.

New York-listed Grab makes most of its sales from its food delivery business but says it has recently seen strong growth in its ride-share business.