Online food ordering service DoorDash agreed yesterday to acquire Wolt, a Finland-based food and consumer delivery service that counts internet group Prosus as an investor, in a €7bn ($8.1bn) all-share deal.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of next year and it includes a retention pool sized at about €500m for Wolt’s 4,000 employees and its management team. The company had raised approximately $856m in funding.
Founded in 2014, Wolt operates an online platform which allows customers in 23 countries to order food, groceries and other consumer goods from local shops to be delivered to them at home. The purchase will allow DoorDash to expand its reach to a host of new markets.
Miki Kuusi will oversee the company’s DoorDash International division and will report to CEO Tony Xu, who said: “We have an opportunity to build a global platform for local commerce in the internet era.
“Joining forces with Wolt will deepen our pool of superb talent and allow us to accelerate our international growth, while elevating our focus on the US.
“We expect the ingenuity, product expertise and operational excellence of our combined company to expand our [total available market], improve our investment efficiency, increase our long-term profit potential and generate significant shareholder value.”
Iconiq Growth led Wolt’s last round, in January this year, when it secured $530m from a consortium also including Prosus Ventures. Its parent, Prosus, was formed by media and e-commerce group Naspers to oversee its online businesses and investments.
Tiger Global Management, Coatue, DST Global, KKR, Vintage Investment Partners and existing investors Goldman Sachs, EQT Ventures, Highland Europe and 83North also took part in the January round. Lifeline Ventures is among its earlier backers.
