Indian cab aggregator Ola has acquired food ordering and delivery marketplace Foodpanda’s India business. Company said it has signed a deal with Germany based Delivery Hero Group which own Foodpanda’s India business. Under the agreement, Foodpanda’s India business will be transferred to Ola in exchange for Ola stock. Ola said that it aims to grow Foodpanda India as the most preferred online food delivery service in the country.
The company informed that Ola and Delivery Hero will continue to collaborate on building the online food delivery ecosystem. Ola has also committed to invest $200mn into the Foodpanda India business. Saurabh Kochhar, who was the CEO of Foodpanda India until recently has decided to move on to pursue other opportunities. Pranay Jivrajka, Founding Partner at Ola, has been appointed as interim CEO of this business unit, supported by the existing leadership team at Foodpanda India.
“Our commitment to invest $200mn 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. I look forward to welcoming the Foodpanda India team to the Ola family.” He added, “I also thank Saurabh Kochhar for building a wonderful team at Foodpanda India over the last couple of years and wish him the very best in his new endeavours,” stated Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO at Ola.
“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 Östberg, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Delivery Hero AG.
