Uber is acquiring the remaining 47% interest in grocery delivery start-up Cornershop in an all-stock transaction, the company said Monday. The acquisition shows how Uber is investing more outside its core ride-hailing business, which has so far failed to prove profitable.
Shares of Uber were up about 0.66% before markets opened on Monday.
The deal comes nearly two years after Uber bought a majority stake in Cornershop for an undisclosed sum. Cornershop currently operates in the U.S., Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Canada.
“Uber already owns ~50% of Cornershop and we’ve seen how working together can deliver great results, like our joint 2020 launch of Brazil, where in no time we became a leading player. But to truly unlock the full potential of this partnership, we need to operate as one company,” Oskar Hjertonsson, founder and CEO of Cornershop, said in a tweet.
The deal is expected to close in July.
Uber has focused its acquisition efforts on its Eats segment during the coronavirus pandemic. Uber acquired Postmates last July after it failed to buy food delivery service GrubHub. It also acquired alcohol-delivery service Drizly in February.
Uber has offloaded some of its more cost-eating transportation segments. The company last year transferred its electric bike and scooter business, Jump, to Lime. Uber also sold its self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group, to its start-up competitor Aurora Innovation. It also offloaded its flying taxi business, Uber Elevate.
