Investing.com -- Delivery Hero shares fell over 3% on Thursday after Uber Technologies bought out activist investor Aspex Management’s holding in the German food-delivery firm for just under €40 per share, well above the €33 takeover offer the U.S. ride-hailing giant made public just days ago.
Uber’s purchase lifted its total stake in Delivery Hero to 36.83%, the Berlin-based company said in a regulatory filing.
The company said Uber had raised voting rights attached to shares to 24.99%, with the remainder held in instruments, just below the 30% threshold under German law that would trigger a mandatory offer to all shareholders.
The move comes days after Delivery Hero disclosed an unsolicited €33-per-share bid from Uber on Saturday, which valued the company at around €10 billion and offered no premium to its then-prevailing share price.
Uber paying nearly €40 to secure Aspex’s block, some 21% above that figure, signals the US company’s urgency to consolidate its position ahead of formal negotiations.
Aspex had been among Delivery Hero’s most disruptive voices, successfully lobbying for the ouster of co-founder and chief executive Niklas Östberg and pushing the company to exit markets and sell assets. Its exit removes the loudest internal pressure for a break-up and leaves Uber as the dominant force in shaping any deal outcome.
Prior to Wednesday’s transaction, Uber had already been Delivery Hero’s largest shareholder, having disclosed a nearly 20% stake earlier this month alongside options for a further 5.6%.
Uber will likely need antitrust clearance across multiple markets where Delivery Hero operates before it can continue increasing its shareholding further.
ProPicks AI evaluates DHER alongside thousands of other companies every month using 100+ financial metrics. Using powerful AI to generate exciting stock ideas, it looks beyond popularity to assess fundamentals, momentum, and valuation. The AI has no bias—it simply identifies which stocks offer the best risk-reward based on current data with notable past winners that include Super Micro Computer (+185%) and AppLovin (+157%). Want to know if DHER is currently featured in any ProPicks AI strategies, or if there are better opportunities in the same space?