German online food takeaway firm Delivery Hero has agreed to buy Middle East food delivery platform Carriage.
The financial details are not disclosed.
This is the latest in a series of Delivery Hero’s technology deals in the region, it said in a statement.
Kuwait-based Carriage, which operates in GCC countries, will strengthen Delivery Hero’s foothold in a region with a significant growth potential, said Niklas Ostberg, CEO of Delivery Hero.
Carriage’s team of founders including chief executive Abdullah Jihad Almutawa was key to the acquisition and would remain on board after the acquisition, the firm said.
Delivery Hero first entered the Middle East in 2015 when it bought regional market leader Talabat from Rocket Internet.
Its move to buy Carriage comes after Dubai’s Emaar Malls announced last week it will buy a 51% stake in e-commerce fashion website Namshi from Global Fashion Group (GFG), a firm set up by Rocket Internet and Sweden’s Kinnevik.
Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Delivery Hero operates in 53 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and partners with 300,000 restaurants.
Founded in 2011, it expanded to Australia, Russia and Mexico in the same year.
In 2015, it bought Jordanian company ifood.jo for a value that was not disclosed.
In November 2011, Delivery Hero received its first investment worth €4 million from Holtzbrinck Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures, Kite Ventures and ru-Net.
It later raised several rounds of funding from existing and fresh investors.
Major investors in Delivery Hero include Germany’s Rocket Internet and South African media and e-commerce firm Naspers.
The firm, which is currently valued at $3 billion, competes with Just Eat, GrubHub, Takeaway.com and Deliveroo.
In December 2016, it acquired a major competitor, Foodpanda.