Deliveroo shares surge after £2.7bn DoorDash takeover move

Lauren Almeida

Mon, Apr 28, 2025, 4:59 AM 3 min read

Shares in Deliveroo have popped 17% as investors reacted to a $3.6bn (£2.7bn) takeover offer by the rival food delivery app DoorDash that could net its founder more than £170m.

Deliveroo said on Friday after the UK stock market had closed that it had received a takeover proposal from DoorDash, the biggest delivery app in the US, on 5 April. It said it would probably recommend a possible 180p a share offer to investors, if DoorDash made a firm offer.

Deliveroo shares hit about 171p in early trading on Monday, its highest level since 2022. The company said on Monday that, after DoorDash’s approach, a £100m plan to buy back its own shares announced last month had been “suspended”.

However, the company told investors on Friday there could be “no certainty that any firm offer for Deliveroo will be made”.

“At this time, shareholders are advised to take no action in respect of the Possible Offer,” the company said in a statement.

According to City takeover rules, DoorDash has until 5pm on 23 May to provide Deliveroo with a firm offer.

A takeover deal could net Will Shu, the founder of Deliveroo, about £172m, based on his 5.9% stake in the business. Last year, he sold 9.4m shares in the business, worth about £14.8m, which he said was to “cover personal property investments”.

Shu, a former investment banker who was inspired with the idea for the app by the lack of late-night food options while working long hours, founded Deliveroo in 2013 alongside his childhood friend Greg Orlowski. He personally made deliveries by scooter for the service in its early months.

Shu has since attracted backing from the likes of Amazon and the venture capital firm Index Ventures. Deliveroo’s popularity surged during the pandemic, when lockdowns halted dining in restaurants and drove a huge rise in meal deliveries.

The company listed in London to much fanfare in 2021, at 390p a share, but dropped by about a quarter on the first day of trading and has since struggled to regain its past highs, especially given demand for takeaway orders has declined since pandemic restrictions eased.

While Deliveroo is one of the most popular delivery apps in the UK, averaging 7.1 million active users in 2024, it has been mostly loss-making. It recorded its first annual pre-tax profit in 2024, of £12.2m, on revenue of £2.07bn.

Deliveroo shares suffered last month after the company’s forecast earnings came in well below analyst expectations and it said it would exit the Hong Kong market amid weak sales and intense competition in the area.

Earlier this year Deliveroo was forced to deny speculation that Shu was preparing to step down as chief executive, saying he was “relentlessly focused on the long-term future of the company”.