(Reuters) – Postmates Inc has revived plans for an initial public offering (IPO) following a string of dealmaking in the U.S. online food delivery service sector, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
The IPO would come amid a surge in demand for food delivery services, as consumers who are staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic order meals from restaurants or have their groceries delivered at home.
Postmates registered its IPO confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2019, but did not proceed with a stock market debut.
Just Eat Takeaway.com NV’s $7.3 billion deal to acquire GrubHub Inc earlier this month, as well as recent fundraisings by peers, convinced it that the time had come to press ahead, the sources said.
The New York Times reported late on Monday that ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies Inc, which lost out to Just Eat Takeaway.com in its bid to acquire GrubHub, has also made an offer to buy Postmates.
Postmates could make its IPO registration public as early as July, kicking off what is typically a process lasting only few weeks until it goes public, the sources said, cautioning that the plans are subject to changes in market conditions.
The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. Postmates and Uber declined to comment.
Postmates was last valued at $2.4 billion, when it raised $225 million in a private fundraising round last September.
Founded in 2011, San Francisco-based Postmates accounted for 8% of the U.S. meal delivery market in May, with DoorDash leading with a 44% market share, according to analytics firm Second Measure.
In early June, DoorDash raised $400 million from private investors at a valuation of $16 billion. Also this month, grocery delivery startup Instacart nearly doubled its valuation to $13.7 billion with a private fundraising round.
Reporting by Joshua Franklin in New York and Anirban Sen in Bangalore; Additional reporting by Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler, Sonya Hepinstall and Himani Sarkar
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