Reuters was informed by two individuals with knowledge of the situation last month that the American food delivery company Doordash expressed interest in acquiring Britain’s Deliveroo.

Based in San Francisco Deliveroo was approached by Doordash, but negotiations broke down over a disagreement over price, according to one of the persons, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the subject. The individual said there are no discussions going on.

There were no comments available from both Deliveroo and Doordash.

Deliveroo’s shares ended at 127.5 pence on Tuesday, valuing the London-listed company at 2.1 billion pounds ($2.66 billion), a 68% decline from a peak of 395.9 pence in August 2021. Following the revelation, Doordash shares dropped 2% to $111.68 before somewhat rebounding. Shares of the company are up 1.7% today.

Since its March 2021 initial public offering, Deliveroo’s shares have been negatively impacted by a downturn in the demand for online meal delivery following the COVID-19 epidemic and investors’ choice for more lucrative firms amid increased interest rates.

The firm has a network of 140,000 riders and collaborates with 180,000 eateries and retail partners.

According to LSEG statistics, Amazon holds the highest investment in Deliveroo at 13.23%, followed by DST Global at 7.54%. Will Shu, the CEO of Deliveroo, owns a 6.46% ownership in the company.

According to the company website, Shu and his boyhood buddy Greg Orlowski established Deliveroo in February 2013.

Shu was the only shareholder of Class B shares at the beginning of the company’s 2021 listing, which granted him increased voting power by holding 57.5% of the voting rights.

Deliveroo’s IPO prospectus indicates that the shares were automatically changed into class A shares this year.

According to the Sunday Times, Doordash, a company with a $46.57 billion market, contemplated purchasing Deliveroo in 2022. At the time, neither company offered a statement.

Doordash CEO Tony Xu stated in a January interview with the Financial Times that the company wants to expand beyond its primary U.S. market.

In 2021, Doordash paid $8 billion in all-shares to purchase its rival Wolt, a company based in Finland.

Online meal delivery services have tried to leave unprofitable sectors behind. According to sources, Germany’s Delivery Hero sold its minority investment in Deliveroo in January and said in May that it planned to sell its Taiwan company to Uber.

Deliveroo’s first-quarter order growth was led by its businesses in France, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong, with a 2% year-over-year gain.

Orders placed through its platform are measured by gross transaction value (GTV), which increased by 6% to 1.83 billion pounds.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)