Glovo’s shareholders’ meeting yesterday gave the green light to the sale of the company to the German competitor Delivery Hero.
It was the last step necessary to close the operation, announced on the night of the end of the year and subsequently approved by the competition regulator without difficulty, since the activity of both companies does not overlap in practically any market. Glovo is strongest in southern Europe and Africa while Delivery Hero dominates in central Europe. In total, they are present in 74 countries.
As planned, the German food delivery group will control 94% of the capital of the Barcelona start-up, which until now was in the hands of fifteen large investment funds –such as Seaya, Drake, Luxor, HS, Lakestar, Lugard or FCPI – plus hundreds of workers and small investors. The remaining 6% will remain mainly in the hands of the founders, Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud, who will continue as top managers of Glovo. The brand will also retain the name.
The purchase agreement, baptized with the name of Project Crown, will materialize through an exchange of shares. According to the document to which La Vanguardia has had access, the holder of a Glovo share is entitled to receive 0.68 shares of Delivery Hero. About 10 million Glovo shares are scheduled to be traded. which would be equivalent to about 7 million titles of the German company. According to a statement issued yesterday, Delivery Hero must still raise capital to accommodate these new titles and admit them to the stock market.
Over the past few months, the operation has caused concern among Glovo shareholders as the valuation of Delivery Hero’s shares has plummeted due to the global situation and the multi-million dollar losses of its business model. If on December 31 a title of the German group was worth 98 euros, its price was 35 euros yesterday, 63% less. That means that the distribution of shares has gone from being valued at about 700 million euros compared to 300 million today.
Given this situation, the CEO of Delivery Hero, Niklas Östberg, recently launched a plan to focus on short-term profitability and thus try to calm the investor. In yesterday’s session, the stock fell more than 3% on the stock market.
The sustained decline in the valuation of Delivery Hero on the stock market has also had an impact on the value of Glovo, which has fallen below the threshold of 1,000 million and has ceased to be a unicorn. If when the sale was announced half a year ago, the Barcelona start-up was worth 2,300, now its value is 63% lower, about 920 million euros.
