Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. News

Uber is on the verge of buying Postmates, report claims

Trevor Mogg
By

Uber is close to acquiring on-demand delivery company Postmates, with a report suggesting a deal could be inked as soon as Monday night.

Recommended Videos

Three people claiming to have knowledge of the matter told The New York Times that Uber has made a takeover offer, though cautioned that discussions were still ongoing and could yet lead nowhere.

Related

News of Uber’s interest in Postmates follows the ridesharing company’s failed attempt to acquire Grubhub, which was recently snapped up by Europe-based Just Eat Takeaway in a $7.3 billion deal that made it the world’s largest online food delivery company outside of China.

Garen M/Creative Commons

Acquiring Postmates could help Uber to strengthen Uber Eats, its meal delivery business, as it seeks ways to boost its income after the coronavirus pandemic decimated its main ridesharing business. Whereas Postmates is a U.S.-only operation, Uber Eats operates globally but struggles to turn a profit.

The Times points out, such a deal could prove also useful for Postmates as the company has found it hard to take on larger outfits in the same game, among them DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats.

Interestingly, Postmates is reported to have been in talks with DoorDash and Grubhub, too, with both companies having also expressed an interest in acquiring the smaller business.

Digital Trends has reached out to Uber and Postmates for confirmation of the discussions, and we will update this article when we hear back.

Postmates launched in 2011 and is currently available in more than 4,200 cities in all 50 states and D.C. While meal delivery is a big part of its business, it also delivers just about anything else you might suddenly need. Indeed, one of its tag lines is “We deliver more than dinner.”

Want to find out more about the best meal delivery apps currently available? Digital Trends has you covered.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Uber Eats is close to delivering your dinner using a drone
uber eats redesigned app lets you track your order with cute graphics

Along with announcing Uber Cash Monday, Uber shared a few more details about its plans to bring drone delivery to Uber Eats.
Uber unveiled the design for the drones at the Forbes 30 under 30 summit. The drones will have rotating wings with six rotors and will be able to take off and land vertically, Techcrunch reports.
While you might think the drones would be used for long-distance travel, instead they’ll likely be used for more local deliveries, at least for the time being. The drones are expected to have a maximum travel time of eight minutes, including takeoff and landing, and will have a range of 18 miles. For round-trip deliveries, the drones will likely travel 12 miles.
In previous conversations about the project, Uber has suggested that it doesn’t plan to use the drones for an entire restaurant to door delivery and instead plans to use the drones for more of a "last mile” approach. For instance, a restaurant might load up several drones for a delivery area and then those drones will all be launched from a central location to their final stops.
In another scenario, the drones will be deployed from restaurants to parked Uber vehicles that will then be responsible for delivering the food that final mile to its destination.
In July, Uber was conducting tests of the delivery drone in San Diego. Those tests were done from a McDonald’s in the area and were done using an Air Robot AR200 octocopter with a custom-built box for holding the food.
In July, Uber talked about building its own drones for food delivery and said that they could eventually reach speeds of 70mph. It had hoped to have its commercial service set up by this summer, which clearly didn’t pan out.
Earlier this month Wing launched the first drone delivery in the United States. Wing, which is owned by Google, is delivering over-the-counter medication, snacks, and gifts to people in Christiansburg, Virginia. It is working in partnership with Walgreens, FedEx Express and Virginia-based retailer Sugar Magnolia on the project.
In the case of Wing, customers have to opt into receiving deliveries via drone should they want to try the technology out.

Read more
Uber investigators were forbidden from reporting criminal allegations to police
An Uber App on a smartphone.

A new report reveals that Uber's internal investigation team that handles customer complaints of crimes like sexual assault and rape is “forbidden” from reporting allegations against drivers to authorities. 

The Washington Post reports that Uber uses a three-strike system for its drivers and won’t remove them as a driver from the platform unless they get three strikes for “bad behavior.” Even still, when a driver is kicked off the platform, Uber doesn’t necessarily let local authorities, other rideshare companies, or background check firms know the driver’s behavior that provoked their removal. 

Read more
California’s gig economy bill could fundamentally change Uber and Lyft
top tech stories uber

Legislators in California just passed a bill requiring app-based companies like Uber and Lyft to treat their contractors the same way they treat regular employees. 

The New York Times reports that the bill, known as Assembly Bill 5, was approved in the California State Senate on a 29-to-11 vote on Tuesday, September 10. Once California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the bill, it would go into effect January 1, 2020. 

Read more