Uber Is buying the company behind Glovo for 1.9 Trillion, but the Real Battle Belongs to Africa

Uber's $14.8 billion cash offer for Berlin-based Delivery Hero is probably one of the largest corporate land grabs in modern logistics.

At €41.50 a share, the board-backed deal values Delivery Hero at €12.4 billion. Because Delivery Hero owns 94 percent of Glovo, Uber is positioning itself to run Africa's dominant delivery network on top of its existing Uber Eats footprint in hubs like Nairobi.

The Carve-Out That Left Africa Behind

European antitrust watchdogs were never going to let Uber swallow the entire continent's delivery market whole. To side-step immediate regulatory blocks, Delivery Hero arranged a $1.6 billion side deal with New York investment firm SSW Partners. That offloads heavily contested European territories including Spain, Portugal, Poland, and Sweden.

Africa gets no such cushion. Uber is absorbing 50 non-carved-out countries, inheriting Glovo's near-monopoly across Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, and Ivory Coast. Once integrated, this mega-network will manage $236 billion in order volume across 99 countries.

The Local Regulatory Challenge

Folding these two giant platforms together dumps a massive burden onto watchdogs like the Competition Authority of Kenya. Right now, Glovo leads local orders, with Uber Eats occupying the secondary slot. If regulators rubber-stamp the takeover, Bolt Food becomes the only independent player holding out against a monolithic app ecosystem.

Monopolies rarely favor the customer. Fewer competitors usually mean higher commission cuts for local restaurants alongside inflated delivery fees for diners. Watchdogs will have to decide whether to demand strict pricing caps or push for actual structural breakups before signing off.

A Long Runway to 2027

App users won't notice a change tomorrow. Cross-border antitrust reviews take time, pushing the prospective closing date out to the second half of 2027. Both Glovo and Uber Eats will keep running as separate apps throughout the multi-year review.

For Prosus, walking away with roughly €2.1 billion closes out a lengthy mandated exit driven by earlier European competition rulings. The investors get their payout. Uber gets a multi-year fight with African market watchdogs.