Uber has put most of its planned food delivery expansion across Europe on hold as it continues to pursue a takeover of German food delivery company Delivery Hero. The ride-hailing company has reportedly shelved launches in five of the seven European markets it had targeted for expansion this year, including Austria, Norway and Greece. Earlier, Uber had announced plans to enter seven new markets—Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania—with the aim of generating an additional $1 billion in gross bookings over the next three years.
The move comes as Uber continues efforts to acquire Delivery Hero. In May, Delivery Hero said it had received a €33-per-share takeover offer from Uber, while Reuters reported that Uber had increased its stake in the German company to nearly 37%.
Uber told the Financial Times that it decided to pause further expansion after successful launches in Finland and Denmark and would instead focus on strengthening its presence in existing markets. Delivery Hero declined to comment, while Uber did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.