Talabat aims to boost operations across the UAE and Egypt with its acquisition of InstaShop. Victor Besa / The National
Talabat aims to boost operations across the UAE and Egypt with its acquisition of InstaShop. Victor Besa / The National
Talabat aims to boost operations across the UAE and Egypt with its acquisition of InstaShop. Victor Besa / The National
Talabat aims to boost operations across the UAE and Egypt with its acquisition of InstaShop. Victor Besa / The National

UAE's talabat acquires instashop from Delivery Hero for $32m


Alvin R Cabral
  • English
  • Arabic

UAE delivery service talabat has completed the acquisition of Dubai-based grocery platform instashop from its German parent company Delivery Hero for $32 million, boosting its grocery and retail portfolio in the Emirates and Egypt.

The sale and purchase agreement, first announced in September last year, was fully funded through talabat’s internal cash reserves, the company said on Thursday.

It said the transaction brings its pro forma grocery and retail gross market value for last year to more than $2.5 billion. The move will unlock operational and technology efficiencies across both businesses, with integration activities already under way, talabat said.

Instashop was first acquired by Berlin-based Delivery Hero for $360 million in 2020, as it sought to expand in the Middle East and North Africa at the time.

Talabat has more than 119,000 riders serving over six million customers in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Jordan and Iraq. Photo: Joint Committee for Traffic Safety
Talabat has more than 119,000 riders serving over six million customers in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Jordan and Iraq. Photo: Joint Committee for Traffic Safety

"As part of the corporate restructuring carried out by Delivery Hero in September 2024, ahead of talabat’s initial public offering in December, and as an entity under common control, the agreed purchase price of instashop of $32 million reflects its capital amount [including subscribed capital and capital reserves] rather than its fair value," the statement said.

By integrating instashop’s platform, "we aim to create a more seamless and efficient delivery experience for our customers across the UAE and Egypt whilst also driving further product and technology synergies across our business", Tomaso Rodriguez, chief executive of talabat, said.

Instashop, which offers groceries, pharmacy items and beauty and personal care products, will continue to operate as an independent brand within talabat’s grocery and retail segment. That will allow cross-listing opportunities for partners to broaden their market reach, talabat said.

Last year, instashop's gross market value rose 16 per cent annually to about $631 million, it said.

Talabat is among a number of players in the UAE that caters to the key on-demand food and quick-commerce markets, as more consumers and businesses rely on convenience and choice. Its major rivals include London-based Deliveroo and Dubai unicorn Careem, which provide access to food, medicines, home services and payments.

Founded in Kuwait in 2004, talabat moved its base to the UAE in 2012, and operates in the Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Jordan and Iraq. It has more than six million customers, 65,000 participating restaurants, grocers and other vendors, and more than 119,000 riders, according to its website.

It began trading on the Dubai Financial Market in December, following an IPO that raised $2 billion in the Gulf's biggest float last year, joining several regional companies raising funds through listings amid increased investor demand and continuing economic momentum. The listing attracted strong investor interest with a double-digit oversubscription level.

In its first set of financial results after the IPO, released in February, talabat reported that its fourth-quarter net profit surged 54 per cent year-on-year to $138 million, with revenue growing 32 per cent to $801 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 36 per cent to $139 million.

For the full-year, net profit leapt 64 per cent to $346 million, boosted by 32 per cent revenue growth to nearly $2.9 billion, with ebitda jumping 55 per cent to $497 million.

Talabat's acquisition of instashop will enable the latter to "leverage talabat’s extensive network and operational expertise", instashop chief executive Nikola Cabarkapa said.

"With talabat’s support, we can amplify our impact even further ... [and tap into] the significant customer and partner benefits this collaboration will bring."

MATCH INFO

Chelsea 0

Liverpool 2 (Mane 50', 54')

Red card: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)

Man of the match: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate

RESULT

Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

Omar Yabroudi's factfile

Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah

Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University

2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship

2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy

2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment

2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment

2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager

 

 

 

 

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Sheikh Zayed's poem

When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.

Your love is ruling over my heart

Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it

Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home

You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness

Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins

You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge

You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm

Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you

You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it

Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by. 

Results

Men's finals

45kg:Duc Le Hoang (VIE) beat Zolfi Amirhossein (IRI) points 29-28. 48kg: Naruephon Chittra (THA) beat Joseph Vanlalhruaia (IND) TKO round 2.

51kg: Sakchai Chamchit (THA) beat Salam Al Suwaid (IRQ) TKO round 1. ​​​​​​​54kg: Veerasak Senanue (THA) beat Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) 30-25.

57kg: Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) RSC round 3. 60kg: Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 30-27.

63.5kg: Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE) 29-28. 67kg: Narin Wonglakhon (THA) beat Mohammed Mardi (UAE) 29-28.

71kg: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) w/o Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ). 75kg:​​​​​​​ Youssef Abboud (LBN) w/o Ayoob Saki (IRI).

81kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Khaled Tarraf (LBN) 29-28. 86kg: Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Emil Umayev (KAZ) 30-27.

91kg: Hamid Reza Kordabadi (IRI) beat Mohamad Osaily (LBN) RSC round 1. 91-plus kg: Mohammadrezapoor Shirmohammad (IRI) beat Abdulla Hasan (IRQ) 30-27.

Women's finals

45kg: Somruethai Siripathum (THA) beat Ha Huu Huynh (VIE) 30-27. 48kg: Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Colleen Saddi (PHI) 30-27.

51kg: Wansawang Srila Or (THA) beat Thuy Phuong Trieu (VIE) 29-28. 54kg: Ruchira Wongsriwo (THA) beat Zeinab Khatoun (LBN) 30-26.

57kg: Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Zahra Nasiri Bargh (IRI) 30-27. 60kg: Kaewrudee Kamtakrapoom (THA) beat Sedigheh Hajivand (IRI) TKO round 2.

63.5kg: Nadiya Moghaddam (IRI) w/o Reem Al Issa (JOR).

Updated: March 06, 2025, 9:02 AM