NEW DELHI: Cab-hailing firm Ola on Tuesday announced that it has acquired food delivery start-up Foodpanda India from its German parent company Delivery Hero AG in an all-stock deal. Ola also committed to investing $200 million in Foodpanda’s India operations.
Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and chief executive officer at Ola, said, “Our commitment to investing $200 million in Foodpanda India will help the business be focused on growth by creating value for customers and partners. With Delivery Hero’s global leadership and Ola’s platform capabilities with unique local insights, this partnership is born out of strength.”
The deal marks Ola’s entry into the online food ordering and delivery segment where its biggest competitor in the cab business Uber already has a presence. Launched in May this year, Uber’s food delivery business UberEATS currently operates in seven Indian cities.
Ola had earlier entered the food delivery business in 2014 with Ola Cafe, which was later shut down. Ola will also have to compete with Zomato and Swiggy - the two established players in the segment.
The deal comes months after Ola raised a massive $1.1 billion from SoftBank Group and Tencent Holdings to strengthen its position in India. There is a buzz in the market that the firm is on its way to raising a similar amount in the near future.