Doordash Eyes Global Domination

The biggest food-delivery service in the US is shopping for a worldwide empire: Hot off its third-ever profitable quarter, DoorDash is spending billions to grab more of the international takeout market and expand into hospitality, the company announced yesterday.

Big swing: Citing record grocery ordering, DoorDash did $3 billion in revenue for Q1, netting $193 million in profit—a sharp reversal from the same period last year, when the company lost $23 million.

Now, with $4.5 billion in cash on hand and a $2.9 billion loan from JPMorgan, DoorDash has struck deals to buy:

• Deliveroo, a UK-based food-delivery service, for $3.9 billion—a 44% premium on its current value. The acquisition will triple DoorDash’s delivery business outside the US, analysts say, if Deliveroo shareholders approve. Amazon also owns a 16% stake and could counter DoorDash’s bid.
• SevenRooms, a data-rich reservation platform, for $1.2 billion. The Resy competitor works with 13,000 restaurant and hotel groups, including Wolfgang Puck and Marriott.

Meanwhile…DoorDash is paying nearly $17 million to settle an investigation that found that the company took tips from New York delivery workers between 2017 and 2019.

Zoom out: The industry is quickly consolidating. Yesterday, Uber announced a $700 million deal to acquire most of a Turkish food-delivery company, and Instacart debuted an alcohol-ordering app.—ML