Loss-making food delivery firms to show there is appetite for deal-making this year

Last year saw frenzied activity in the food delivery sector, during which pandemic lockdowns caused sales to surge.

Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway perhaps faces the most pressure of the major delivery companies.

With a midnight deadline looming on New Year’s Eve, Germany’s Delivery Hero clinched an 11th-hour deal for a majority stake in Spanish peer Glovo. Two weeks later, it said it would sell down its holding of Latin-American company Rappi. Then this week, it told investors its food-delivery business would break even within months.

The first announcement capped off another year of frenzied activity in the food delivery sector, during which pandemic lockdowns caused sales to surge and investors to rush into established companies and rapid grocery startups alike.