Uber started out as a ridesharing company, but later the company leveraged its drivers to form Uber Eats, where drivers could also go pickup food orders along their routes and deliver them to customers as a way of earning a bit more money. However, in recent times due to the pandemic, the number of people relying on ridesharing is clearly down, while demand for food delivery is going up.
So much so that according to a report from the New York Times, they have heard from sources that claims that Uber could be interested in acquiring Postmates. The report alleges that Uber has apparently made an offer to acquire the company and that talks are still in progress, but whether or not it will be successful remains to be seen.
If successful, it is unclear how Uber will be treating their acquisition. Will they allow Postmates to continue to operate as they are while being part of Uber, or will Uber fold Postmates into Uber Eats and incorporate their features into their app? The latter does seem like a long-term possibility, but either way, take it with a grain of salt for now as neither company has commented on the rumor.
In a way, it also makes sense that Uber might want to bolster its services considering that Just Eat has recently acquired Grubhub, meaning that Uber’s Uber Eats services will now have stiffer competition than before, so acquiring Postmates could be Uber’s way of strengthening their services.