Info Edge-owned food delivery giant Zomato has acquired the India operations of its rival Uber Eats in an all-stock deal. Chintan Thakkar, chief financial officer of Info Edge, said that the acquisition has given Zomato the upper hand against Swiggy as they tussle for market share in India.

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“The synergies are more from the standpoint of India business because right now it is about Uber Eats India. Zomato is present outside India also in a few countries and that Uber Eats is also present in many more countries. However, this deal is focused on the Indian territory,” he told CNBC-TV18.

>> Zomato agrees to buy Uber Eats in all-stock deal

"Now that Uber Eats and Zomato have joined hands, all the restaurant partners of Uber Eats also will come into the fold of Zomato, the riders will come into the fold of Zomato."

Thakkar said that Uber Eats' strong performance in the south Indian market will be advantageous for Zomato.

“The most important thing from Zomato’s standpoint is also that certain geographical synergies — certain cities where Uber Eats was doing much better particularly in the southern part of our country, that business is shifting back to Zomato — that is going to be very important. So it is a high-growth category. These are some of the strategic advances that Zomato will have because of the partnership with Uber Eats."

Uber Eats gets a 10 percent stake in Zomato as part of the all-stock deal. Thakkar added that Info Edge's share in Zomato will now drop to 23 percent.

“This is an all-stock deal so there is 10 percent addition that will happen. So we would be roughly around 23 percent now once the deal is done.”

The acquisition leaves Swiggy and Zomato as the two biggest players left standing in the online food delivery space in the country. Thakkar believes that Zomato has now gained an upper hand against Swiggy.

“From the competitive landscape, these two players were always neck-to-neck and that continues. Uber Eats was a third player and it was a little distant third-player but this coming with Zomato, Zomato has the upper hand now.”

First Published:Jan 21, 2020 3:37 PM IST