Uber acquires US catering company Ezcater

The transportation intermediary Uber is acquiring the company Ezcater, which facilitates catering across more than 140,000 restaurants and ordering businesses in the United States. Ezcater's offerings include ongoing delivery of prepared meals for employee consumption as well as traditional catering for individual events.

Uber already provides similar services through Uber Eats, typically handling short-term orders of significantly smaller quantities. This area is Uber's fastest-growing business segment. By acquiring the Boston-based Ezcater, Uber is entering the market for larger-scale, long-term meal orders.

Founded in 2007, Ezcater has been funded by venture capital, including investments from Softbank. The total value of the acquisition is reportedly 2.3 billion EUR, and payment will be made in cash. It remains unclear whether Uber will assume any debts or if these will have to be settled from the purchase price. The acquired business is not currently profitable; however, Uber expects that its margin will improve with Ezcater's operations.

According to Uber's press release, the average order amount at Ezcater exceeds 400 USD. Uber has not disclosed its own average gross delivery amount in the USA, but industry observers suggest it is likely less than one-tenth of Ezcater's average. Smaller deliveries are also easier to manage.

Uber's after-hours stock price has not changed following the announcement of the acquisition. Necessary regulatory approvals are still pending, so the acquisition is expected to be completed "in the coming months." Ezcater previously operated outside the USA, having acquired the European company Gocater in 2018, which was active in Germany and France. However, operations in Germany were suspended in early 2019, and Gocater was closed in France in May 2020 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reported by Heise.