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The merger was about foodpanda integrating the corporate delivery network delivery.com built over the last couple of years

Rocket Internet-backed online food delivery service foodpanda announced today it has acquired the business and staff of delivery.com‘s Hong Kong operations.

The financial details of the move were undisclosed.

The acquisition seems to follow the old adage ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ because delivery.com was one of foodpanda’s two major Hong Kong competitors in the restaurant-delivery industry. The acquisition leaves Deliveroo as the main competition to foodpanda in the city.

foodpanda explicitly stated the move is part of a consolidation strategy in the city and cited a day last year (February 10 2015) when the company bought two separate companies — Koziness and Dial-a-Dinner.

Also Read: foodpanda’s loss is Delivery Hero’s gains

What delivery.com brings to foodpanda is a network of clientelle and operations within the corporate world. The New York-based food delivery service entered Hong Kong in 2014 with the goal of filling a nascent market for corporate on-demand food ordering.

“We are very excited to welcome delivery.com Hong Kong’s corporate clients, customers and team to the foodpanda family. The team has built an excellent operation in one of our key markets and will help foodpanda continue to drive high growth here,” said Ralf Wenzel, Co-Founder and CEO of foodpanda group in an official statement.

foodpanda itself launched a corporate account product in November 2015. The company is hoping the acquisition can align well with the new service and will provide in-house expertise and support.

The acquisition is a departure from the last 6 months as the company has experienced consistent retrenchment.

A month ago, foodpanda laid-off around 18 people in Hong Kong citing an effort to “streamline our team now to better align operational activities.” Of that move, Hong Kong chief executive officer Alexander Roth said the decision came after foodpanda integrated Koziness and Dial-a-Dinner.

In December, the company fired 330 people in India and completely shut down operations in Vietnam.

Also Read: What foodpanda taught me is ‘execute, execute, execute’: Pawel Netreba of Bfab

delivery.com is one of the global leaders in the food ordering app landscape. It facilitates orders with over 10,000 companies and operates in a multitude of US cities.

“We are very proud to transition our fast-growing Hong Kong business to a strong global player.  We know that the foodpanda team will leverage their global food delivery expertise to continue to build upon our success in the Hong Kong market,” said Jed Kleckner, CEO of delivery.com.

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Photo courtesy of foodpanda.

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