German food delivery group Delivery Hero has denied a report that talks to sell part of its Foodpanda business in Asia had collapsed, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
“There are market rumours that the negotiations for the potential sale have collapsed,” Deliver Hero said in a statement, according to the report. “We confirm that the negotiations for the potential sale are ongoing.”
A report from Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times on Friday said that talks to sell its Foodpanda brand in several Southeast Asian markets to Singapore-headquartered Grab Holdings Ltd has fallen apart, citing people familiar with the matter. It was reported that a Grab representative declined to comment.
Delivery Hero’s Asian business, its largest market, has stagnated since pandemic-era lockdowns eased.
In September, the company said it was in talks to sell the Foodpanda brand in countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. The company, however, has not named the potential buyers.
China’s Meituan is exploring a potential acquisition of Foodpanda in these markets, Bloomberg reported in November last year.
Meituan has held talks with Delivery Hero about buying Southeast Asian operations that run under the Foodpanda brand, the people said, according to the report then.
The Wirtschaftswoche business magazine first reported the news, saying Singapore-headquartered super app Grab could pay a little more than 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) for the unit.
Analysts, however, said antitrust approval will be the largest hurdle for Grab’s potential acquisition of the business.
China’s Meituan explores deal for Delivery Hero’s Southeast Asia arm Foodpanda – report