(May 12): Niklas Östberg, the chief executive officer of German food delivery company Delivery Hero SE, will step down after an activist investor that’s called for him to leave raised its stake in the company.
Östberg, who co-founded Delivery Hero in 2011, will step down by March 31, 2027 at the latest, the company said in a statement Tuesday. The supervisory board aims to complete its search for a successor by year-end.
His resignation comes after Prosus NV, Delivery Hero’s largest shareholder, this week said it is selling a 5% stake to Hong Kong-based Aspex Management, which will boost its holding to about 14%. Aspex has been pushing Östberg to offload more assets or leave the company.
Delivery Hero shares pared earlier losses and were down 0.2% to €23.55 at 12:59pm in Frankfurt. That’s compared to over €130 at its 2021 peak.
The development caps a 15-year tenure for Östberg, who was co-CEO before becoming the sole leader. Östberg used debt to fuel rapid expansion through acquisitions such as Glovo and Woowa to build a portfolio of brands and franchises in about 65 countries.
Delivery Hero said last December that it’s evaluating options to improve finances and operations after Bloomberg reported that the company was facing pressure from investors including Aspex to conduct a strategic review amid increasing consolidation in the food-delivery industry.
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In March, Aspex Management said it would try and replace the food delivery company’s management if it doesn’t push ahead with the sale of some assets. Delivery Hero that month sold its Taiwan food delivery operations to Grab for US$600 million ($763.6 million).
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