Quick overview of the main events of the day:
Uber is buying Delivery Hero for $14.8 billion, a premium of 127 percent.
Prosus has committed to selling its 17 percent stake in Delivery Hero to Uber.
SSW Partners will buy 14 markets from Delivery Hero for $1.6 billion.
ABB is buying the British company Rotork for $5.6 billion, a premium of 74 percent.
Eli Lilly is in talks to acquire the psychedelic company AtaiBeckley, up 62 percent.
Volkswagen warns of potential job losses of 140,000 instead of the previously announced 100,000.
The factories in Emden and Zwickau face a possible complete shutdown.
Foreign Investments
The largest delivery deal in the history of the technology industry came from San Francisco on Thursday. The American transportation giant Uber Technologies announced its intention to acquire the Berlin-based food delivery rival Delivery Hero through a voluntary public offering at €41.50 per share, equivalent to approximately $14.8 billion, according to press releases from the companies. The offer represents a premium of 127 percent over the three-month average price before speculation about the deal began and 34 percent above the average of the three months prior to the announcement itself.
Uber holds approximately 24.77 percent of the voting rights in Delivery Hero, plus financial exposure through derivatives; the technology investor Prosus, the second-largest shareholder with a stake of around 17 percent, has irrevocably committed to tender its shares in the offer, which would mean that Uber's economic interest would exceed 53 percent. By combining both platforms, Uber would operate in 99 markets with combined gross bookings of $236 billion by 2025. To allow the deal to pass through antitrust regulators, Delivery Hero simultaneously entered into an agreement with the New York investment firm SSW Partners, which will take over operations in 14 overlapping markets for approximately $1.6 billion, including platforms such as foodora in Austria, Norway and Sweden, Glovo in Spain and Poland, and Yemeksepeti in Turkey.
Across the Atlantic, the news impacted the automotive industry. The Swiss industrial giant ABB announced, along with its quarterly results, the acquisition of the British manufacturer of industrial valves and control systems Rotork for £4.14 billion (approximately $5.6 billion) in cash, or 506 pence per share, according to Bloomberg. The offer represents a premium of approximately 74 percent above Rotork's closing share price before the announcement, and is ABB's largest acquisition ever.
CEO Morten Wierod stated that the transaction stems from ABB's diversification into automation and electrification for industrial and energy customers. Financing will be secured through existing cash of $5.8 billion as of June 30, plus bank loans, with further assistance from approximately $4.8 billion in proceeds from the previously announced sale of the robotics division to the group SoftBank, which is expected in the second half of 2026.
In the pharmaceutical sector, shares of the psychedelic biotechnology company AtaiBeckley soared by 62 percent on Thursday in pre-market trading in response to reports that the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is close to a deal to acquire the company, according to CNBC.
Significant Events with Global Impact
```The Volkswagen Group is facing a more significant social upheaval than previously anticipated. According to information from the works council, up to 140,000 jobs could be lost in the coming years—40,000 more than the previously cited estimate of 100,000—Reuters reported on Thursday. The key points of contention remain the Emden and Zwickau plants, which are threatened with complete closure; meetings between employees and CEO Oliver Blume are scheduled for August.
Volkswagen management is considering producing electric vehicles originally developed for the Chinese market in German factories as an alternative solution, as was reported the previous day. The impact on the stock market has been immediate: Volkswagen Group shares have fallen by more than 30 percent since the beginning of the year, and the IG Metall union has announced strong opposition. This situation is part of a broader European pressure on the automotive industry, where manufacturers are grappling with the transition to electric mobility, the loss of market share in China, and falling behind Asian competitors.
Tradingeconomics.com