Uber is set to acquire Latin American online grocery delivery start-up Cornershop as it continues to push into the retail delivery market.
Cornershop, founded in 2015, agreed to sell a majority stake to Uber in a deal expected to be completed in early 2020 should it be approved by competition authorities.
Though the details of the deal were not made public, Uber is expected to have paid around $225 million, the sum Walmart was set to pay for the company in September last year before the deal was scrapped.
This marks Uber’s latest foray into the online grocery delivery market, after announcing in August that it aims to expand its Uber Eats restaurant delivery business to fulfil orders from “merchants in my city”, delivering everything from ready meals to cinema popcorn.
READ MORE: Uber to deliver groceries and convenience store items “soon”
“Whether it’s getting a ride, ordering food from your favorite restaurant, or soon, getting groceries delivered, we want Uber to be the operating system for your everyday life,” Uber’s chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said.
“We’re excited to partner with the team at Cornershop to scale their vision, and look forward to working with them to bring grocery delivery to millions of consumers on the Uber platform.”
Cornershop trades mainly in Latin American markets including Chile, Mexico and Peru, but has recently began operations in North America via a pilot in Toronto in partnership with Walmart.
Cornershop’s co-founder and chief executive Oskar Hjertonsson added: “Uber is the perfect partner as we embark on our quest to bring our unique flavour of on-demand groceries from incredible retail partners to many more countries around the world.”
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