Uber Slows Europe Expansion, Buys Stake in German Giant

Uber has put most of its planned expansion into the food delivery sector in Europe on hold, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The move comes just months after the American company unveiled ambitious plans for the region, as it now focuses on building a stake in the German food delivery service Delivery Hero.

Uber had originally planned to enter seven new European markets this year: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania. According to the FT report, the company no longer expects to launch services in five of these countries, including Austria, Norway and Greece. The remaining two countries were not specified. Uber had expected the expansion to generate an additional $1bn in gross bookings over three years.

In May, however, the San Francisco-based company submitted a bid to buy Delivery Hero shares at €33 per share ($37.74). It subsequently raised its stake in the company to nearly 37% after purchasing shares from the Aspex Management fund.

Uber told the FT that it had halted its expansion after strong early success in Finland and Denmark and now intends to focus on building momentum in its existing markets.

(Reuters, Max)