Uber Buys Glovo's Owner for €13 Billion but Carves Portugal Out of the Deal
Uber agreed on 16 July to buy Glovo's owner Delivery Hero for about €13 billion, but deliberately excluded 14 markets where the brands compete — including Portugal. Glovo's Portuguese operation will pass to US fund SSW Partners, keeping it separate from Uber Eats.
Uber has struck a deal to buy Delivery Hero, the German group behind the Glovo delivery app, for around $14.8 billion — roughly €13 billion at current exchange rates. The agreement, announced on 16 July, unites two heavyweights of app-based delivery. But in a detail that matters directly to Portugal, the country has been deliberately left outside the transaction.
The acquisition perimeter excludes 14 markets where Glovo and Uber Eats already compete head to head, and Portugal is on that list. Rather than folding into Uber, Glovo's Portuguese operation — along with those in the 13 other carved-out markets — will be transferred to SSW Partners, an American investment fund. The structure is a familiar move in large cross-border deals: shedding the markets where combining the two brands would raise the sharpest competition concerns.
Why Portugal was ring-fenced
In Portugal, Glovo and Uber Eats are two of the most visible names in food and grocery delivery, alongside Bolt Food. Merging them under one owner would have handed the combined group a commanding share of a market that regulators watch closely. By routing Glovo's local business to an independent fund, the parties keep the two brands competing — at least on paper — and reduce the risk of a drawn-out antitrust review derailing the wider deal.
For couriers and restaurants, the immediate practical effect is muted: Glovo in Portugal will keep operating under new financial ownership rather than disappearing. The longer-term question is what SSW Partners intends to do with a delivery business it now controls across more than a dozen countries, and whether that means fresh investment or an eventual resale.
The deal lands during a busy stretch for corporate Portugal, where company takeovers have hit a 22-year high and foreign money keeps flowing in, from fintech expansion to a growing Angolan investment stake.
What This Means for Expats
- Your delivery apps: If you order through Glovo in Portugal, service continues as normal — the app is not merging into Uber Eats here.
- Choice preserved, for now: The carve-out keeps Glovo, Uber Eats and Bolt Food as separate options, which matters for pricing and courier pay.
- Watch the ownership: A new financial owner can change fees, promotions or courier terms over time; keep an eye on how SSW Partners runs the business.
- Regulation bites: The exclusion shows how seriously EU and national competition rules shape even global tech deals — the same regulatory logic now reshaping Portugal's ride-hailing market.
The transaction still needs regulatory clearance in several jurisdictions. However it closes, Portugal's delivery landscape will, for the moment, look much as it did the day before the deal was signed.
