Latest news with #EricFrench
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK's Deliveroo says quits Hong Kong market
Food delivery firm Deliveroo said Monday that it would end operations in Hong Kong next month after striking a deal with local competitor foodpanda. The Chinese city has seen growing competition in the food-delivery services market following the 2023 entry of KeeTa, an app by Chinese e-commerce giant Meituan, which surpassed Deliveroo in order volume within a year. The British company said Monday it had "nominated liquidators to manage closure of the Hong Kong business and the remainder of its assets in the most efficient way possible", with the platform remaining live until April 7. The firm said its "commitment to disciplined capital allocation", along with "several dynamics specific to the Hong Kong market", led the board to determine that it would not serve shareholders' interests to keep doing business in the city. Deliveroo will close its operations by selling some assets to Singaporean firm foodpanda and by closing other assets, the company said in a statement. "We have been proud to serve so many people such amazing food over the past nine years," Deliveroo chief operating officer Eric French said. Delivery Hero, the Berlin-based parent of foodpanda, confirmed that it closed an agreement to acquire "selected assets" from Deliveroo. "Deliveroo customers and couriers in Hong Kong will be redirected, and certain vendors will be onboarded to the foodpanda platform," the firm said. - Hong Kong 'was a laggard' - Customers of foodpanda will be able to pick from a broader range of restaurants and grocery businesses, and vendors will benefit from access to a larger customer base, Delivery Hero said. Founded in London, Deliveroo entered the Hong Kong market in 2015 as part of its first wave of international expansion a year after foodpanda landed in the city. Deliveroo said in its 2024 interim results that Hong Kong "was a laggard amongst our major markets", citing "a more difficult market and competitive environment". The company said Monday that Hong Kong represented five percent of the group's gross transaction value in 2024, and had a five percentage point negative impact on international gross transaction value growth. In contrast, Delivery Hero said in a trading update last month that it saw "strong customer growth" in Hong Kong in December. In 2021, Uber Eats ended its five-year run in Hong Kong after years of struggling to gain market share. Hong Kong's online food delivery market is projected to reach $4.4 billion in revenue this year and $5.8 billion by 2029, according to data platform Statista. The sector has faced a steady stream of labour disputes, and the three major platforms were accused of inadequate labour protections by striking workers in March 2024. "What the delivery workers have experienced is dropping wages faster than ever" after KeeTa established market dominance, the Riders' Rights Concern Group said in December. hol/oho/sn
Khaleej Times
10-03-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Food delivery firm Deliveroo to end operations next month in Hong Kong
Food delivery firm Deliveroo said Monday that it would end operations in Hong Kong next month after striking a deal with local competitor foodpanda. The Chinese city has seen growing competition in the food-delivery services market following the 2023 entry of KeeTa, an app by Chinese e-commerce giant Meituan, which surpassed Deliveroo in order volume within a year. The British company said Monday it had "nominated liquidators to manage closure of the Hong Kong business and the remainder of its assets in the most efficient way possible", with the platform remaining live until April 7. The firm said its "commitment to disciplined capital allocation", along with "several dynamics specific to the Hong Kong market", led the board to determine that it would not serve shareholders' interests to keep doing business in the city. Deliveroo will close its operations by selling some assets to Singaporean firm foodpanda and by closing other assets, the company said in a statement. "We have been proud to serve so many people such amazing food over the past nine years," Deliveroo chief operating officer Eric French said. Delivery Hero, the Berlin-based parent of foodpanda, confirmed that it closed an agreement to acquire "selected assets" from Deliveroo. "Deliveroo customers and couriers in Hong Kong will be redirected, and certain vendors will be onboarded to the foodpanda platform," the firm said. - Hong Kong 'was a laggard' - Customers of foodpanda will be able to pick from a broader range of restaurants and grocery businesses, and vendors will benefit from access to a larger customer base, Delivery Hero said. Founded in London, Deliveroo entered the Hong Kong market in 2015 as part of its first wave of international expansion a year after foodpanda landed in the city. Deliveroo said in its 2024 interim results that Hong Kong "was a laggard amongst our major markets", citing "a more difficult market and competitive environment". The company said Monday that Hong Kong represented five percent of the group's gross transaction value in 2024, and had a five percentage point negative impact on international gross transaction value growth. In contrast, Delivery Hero said in a trading update last month that it saw "strong customer growth" in Hong Kong in December. In 2021, Uber Eats ended its five-year run in Hong Kong after years of struggling to gain market share. Hong Kong's online food delivery market is projected to reach $4.4 billion in revenue this year and $5.8 billion by 2029, according to data platform Statista. The sector has faced a steady stream of labour disputes, and the three major platforms were accused of inadequate labour protections by striking workers in March 2024. "What the delivery workers have experienced is dropping wages faster than ever" after KeeTa established market dominance, the Riders' Rights Concern Group said in December.
The Independent
10-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Deliveroo to quit Hong Kong after nine years
Food delivery giant Deliveroo has revealed it is to pull out of Hong Kong in April after nine years. The group said it has agreed the sale of some parts of the Hong Kong business to Delivery Hero's Singapore-based Foodpanda, without revealing financial details of the deal. It said it is also shutting other parts of the Hong Kong business, with liquidators appointed to manage the process 'in the most efficient way possible'. The group's ordering platform will remain live until April 7. 'There are several dynamics specific to the Hong Kong market which led the board to consider strategic options and, given the group's commitment to disciplined capital allocation, determine that it would not serve shareholders' best interests to continue to operate in Hong Kong,' Deliveroo said. The group's Hong Kong arm – which represented 5% of group-wide sales by gross transaction value (GTV) last year – remains loss-making on an underlying earnings basis, according to the firm. It dragged international GTV down by five percentage points last year, it added. Chief operating officer Eric French said: 'We want to thank all our employees, consumers, riders and restaurant and grocery partners who have been involved in our operations in Hong Kong. 'We have been proud to serve so many people such amazing food over the past nine years.'
South China Morning Post
10-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Deliveroo bows out of Hong Kong, selling assets to rival Foodpanda
Deliveroo, an on-demand food delivery platform, will exit the Hong Kong market next month by selling certain assets to its rival, Foodpanda, due to tough competition. Deliveroo said on Monday that it had nominated liquidators to manage closure of the business and the remainder of its assets in the most efficient way. Deliveroo Hong Kong's service will end on April 7, bringing a nine-year run in the market to a close. The development comes less than two years after mainland Chinese rival Meituan's KeeTa entered the Hong Kong market and obtained a significant share. 'We want to thank all our employees, consumers, riders and restaurant and grocery partners who have been involved in our operations in Hong Kong,' Deliveroo chief operating officer Eric French said. 'We have been proud to serve so many people such amazing food over the past nine years.' Deliveroo said it had lost money in Hong Kong last year, recording a negative Ebitda, or earnings before interest, depreciation and taxes. It said several reasons prompted the decision to close including its discipline in capital allocation and that it believed it would not serve shareholders' best interests to continue the Hong Kong operations. A Deliveroo spokesman said it encouraged its riders to join Foodpanda. For those without a Foodpanda account or who were inactive recently, Foodpanda will offer delivery walkers an incentive of HK$200 to join its platform and HK$500 for those using vehicles upon completion of their first 10 orders. Delivery drivers deserve our empathy 'For employees, the company is offering everyone an enhanced redundancy payment going beyond government statutory requirements,' the spokesman said without revealing the number of workers and riders affected. Foodpanda, a unit of Berlin-based Delivery Hero, said the deal meant Deliveroo customers and riders would be moved onto the Foodpanda platform along with some restaurants and grocery shops. 'This transaction will give customers on the Foodpanda platform access to a wider range of restaurant and grocery businesses, including some only available on the Deliveroo app,' it said. 'Vendors joining the platform will be able to tap into a new customer base to boost their long-term success.' Foodpanda, which has operated in the city for 10 years, said it had decided to further invest in the market and was committed to maintaining a sustainable delivery ecosystem that provided the best value for its customers, couriers and business partners. Hong Kong's food delivery sector has been on a roller-coaster ride in the past decade. After Foodpanda and Deliveroo expanded their presence in the city, Uber Eats pulled out of the market in 2021. This was despite Covid-19 pandemic-related lockdowns fuelling demand for food deliveries.
