Ola acquires Foodpanda India for $200 mn, Pranay Jivrajka to head

Cab aggregator Ola on Tuesday said it will acquire Foodpanda India business from Germany-based global online food ordering and delivery marketplace Delivery Hero Group for $200 million.

"Our commitment to invest $200 mn in Foodpanda India will help the business be focused on growth by creating value for customers and partners. With Delivery Hero's global leadership and Ola's platform capabilities with unique local insights, this partnership is born out of strength," said Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO at Ola.

According to the cab aggregator platform's statement, the deal includes the transfer of Foodpanda's India business to Ola in an acquisition deal in exchange for Ola stock.

The company also said Founding Partner at Ola, Pranay Jivrajka has been appointed as interim CEO of this business unit, supported by the existing leadership team at Foodpanda India.

"Saurabh Kochhar, who was the CEO of Foodpanda India until recently, has decided to move on to pursue other opportunities," Ola said in a statement.

The statement said Foodpanda India will benefit from Ola's scale and efficiencies as a platform, also having leveraged learnings from Delivery Hero's global best practices.

"The partnership with Ola will allow us to further consolidate markets where it strategically makes sense to collaborate with leading local players. At the same time, we consider our stake in Ola as a very valuable asset, while Ola's investment commitment in Foodpanda India is a clear and confident signal to the Indian market," said Niklas Ostberg, CEO and Co-founder of Delivery Hero AG.

--IANS

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