Uber Agrees to Buy Catering Platform ezCater for $2.3 Billion in Cash
The deal pushes Uber deeper into business food ordering as it pursues a far larger bid for Delivery Hero.
Uber has agreed to acquire Boston-based ezCater, a marketplace for workplace and event catering, for $2.3 billion in cash, according to Bloomberg. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.
ezCater processed more than $2.5 billion in gross bookings over the past 12 months, giving Uber a sizable foothold in corporate food ordering, a segment where order sizes are far larger than typical consumer deliveries.
Why it matters
Business catering fits neatly alongside Uber for Business and Uber Eats. Large office orders are planned in advance, carry higher ticket sizes, and can be routed through the delivery network Uber already operates in most major U.S. cities.
A bigger target in view
The ezCater purchase is small next to Uber's other pending ambition: the company is also pursuing a much larger acquisition of Berlin-based Delivery Hero, which would extend its delivery footprint across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Uber has not said when it expects the ezCater deal to close.