The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Uber has launched a takeover bid for Delivery Hero, giving the German firm a $14.8-billion (U.S.) equity value in a move that would create the largest food-delivery group outside China. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the acquisition advances the U.S. ride-hailing firm's efforts to build a global food-delivery business as it faces intensifying competition from Just Eat, owned by Dutch group Prosus, and U.S. rival DoorDash, which has also been expanding. The transaction, which is likely to face a complex regulatory process, would create a platform spanning 99 countries with combined pro-forma gross merchandise value (GMV) of $236-billion (U.S.) in 2025, Delivery Hero said in a statement. By comparison, China's giant Meituan recorded a platform GMV of about 1.67-trillion yuan ($346.5-billion) last year. Uber, already Delivery Hero's top shareholder, has made the acquisition conditional on a minimum acceptance threshold of 50 per cent plus one share. The 41.50-euro-per-share offer represents a 34-per-cent premium to Delivery Hero's three-month price. Acquiring Delivery Hero would expand the Uber Eats network in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.