Major reshuffle in the European food delivery industry! Rumors of asset divestment are brewing, causing Delivery Hero's stock price to soar by 40%.

Signs show that German delivery platform Delivery Hero is preparing to further divest assets, a move that has driven the company's stock price to its best single-week performance since its 2017 listing. Delivery Hero's stock price surged 40% this week, reaching its highest level since September of last year. Prior to this, co-founder Niklas stberg announced his departure as CEO within a year, and the company's largest shareholder has also sold some of their shares to a hedge fund. There are also reports that Delivery Hero is planning to sell its business in South Korea, further fueling rumors of asset divestiture. Stifel analyst Clment Genelot said in a research report on Tuesday, "In our view, the gradual withdrawal of the founders from the management team signifies a significantly increased probability of asset divestiture through corporate split, and the sharp rise in stock price this round is a pricing reflection of this expectation." Just one day before stberg announced his resignation by the end of March 2027, Dutch investment group Prosus SE transferred 5% of Delivery Hero's shares to Hong Kong-based hedge fund Aspex Management. Aspex has been pushing for more asset sales by the company. Delivery Hero's stock price has fallen by 80% since its peak in 2021. Amid industry consolidation, the company has been evaluating various options to unlock asset value and improve its financial situation. In March of this year, the company agreed to sell its Foodpanda business in Taiwan to Grab Holdings Ltd. With the rumors of asset divestiture driving it, Delivery Hero's stock price soared 40% this week. Focus on South Korea business Media reports on Wednesday stated that Delivery Hero has initiated the process of selling its business in South Korea, further strengthening market expectations for its continued asset disposal. According to the latest annual report, South Korea is Delivery Hero's largest market, accounting for over 23% of its revenue in 2025, with over 60% of its long-term assets also located in South Korea. JPMorgan analysts stated on Wednesday that Delivery Hero's business in South Korea may attract buyers from the United States and China. The market generally welcomes this asset sale, but a team of analysts led by Marcus Diebel at JPMorgan expressed, "We see some risks, even if there is acquisition interest, buyers may not be willing to offer a high valuation premium." If the South Korea business is successfully sold, it is expected to alleviate investors' concerns about the company's balance sheet. Bloomberg data compiled shows that the company has 2.25 billion (approximately $2.6 billion) in convertible bonds maturing between 2028 and 2030. Given the continuous decline in the stock price since the outbreak of the pandemic, bondholders are unlikely to choose conversion, meaning the company will need to use cash to repay the principal and interest. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Charles Allen stated that selling the business in South Korea could fundamentally improve Delivery Hero's financial prospects. After the balance sheet is repaired, the new CEO will have greater strategic adjustment space after the departure of the founder. Shake-up in the European food delivery industry Delivery Hero's intensive divestiture of assets this time is in line with the accelerating trend of consolidation in the European food delivery industry. Analysts believe that the current food delivery industry has entered a window of consolidation. High inflation coupled with pressure on household incomes has led consumers to be more cautious about takeaway consumption, while most companies in the industry have also reached a bottleneck in expanding their scale. AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould stated, "Only the strongest companies can survive," and small to medium-sized platforms that recognize the trend and realize that it is difficult to survive independently will ultimately choose to merge into larger groups for development. A series of major mergers and acquisitions in the industry have taken place: U.S. food delivery giant DoorDash acquired UK-based Deliveroo for $3.9 billion, entering the core European market with strength; multinational investment group Prosus spent 4.3 billion to acquire European local leader Just Eat Takeaway, creating a "European version of Ele.me," and to comply with EU antitrust requirements, continued to reduce its stake in Delivery Hero; Uber, with its global advantages, has continuously increased its market share in Europe. In order to push through the acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway, Prosus transferred 4.5% of Delivery Hero shares to Uber in April of this year, and plans to reduce its overall stake to below 10% in exchange for EU regulatory approval. In this current wave of industry consolidation, platforms that are weak in profitability, high in debt, and have diversified businesses face the risk of being acquired or marginalized. Under the pressure of European local leaders and American giants, selling non-core assets, focusing on advantageous regions, and repairing the balance sheet have become Delivery Hero's survival strategy in the industry shuffle.