Uber said Tuesday it will acquire U.S. corporate catering platform ezCater in an all-cash transaction valued at $2.3 billion, folding group catering and workplace meals into Uber Eats. It is Uber's second big delivery acquisition this year — in July it bid $14.8 billion for Germany's Delivery Hero. The deal needs regulatory approval and is expected to close in the coming months. Uber shares rose 0.4% on Tuesday.
Founded in 2007 and based in Boston, ezCater is the largest online catering marketplace in the U.S.: business customers order from more than 140,000 restaurants nationwide for meetings, events and everyday workplace meals, with tools to manage ordering and food spend. Per Uber's numbers, ezCater generated over $2.5 billion in gross bookings over the trailing 12 months, growing in the high teens year over year, and is profitable on a non-GAAP operating income basis. The eye-catching stat is ticket size: average order values exceed $400, far above a typical food-delivery order.
"Catering is a big business, and can be a huge revenue stream for restaurants," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement, praising the platform built by ezCater CEO Nihad Rahman and his team. "With Uber's reach, we can bring that experience to millions more customers and help restaurants win more of these valuable orders." Uber expects the acquisition to be margin accretive — high-ticket catering orders are inherently more profitable than one-off meals.
The deal math works on three levels. First, margins: ezCater is already profitable with $400-plus average orders, so folding it in lifts delivery margins directly; delivery accounted for about 37% of Uber's total revenue in the second quarter and has been its fastest-growing segment. Second, synergy: ezCater's catering capabilities plug into Uber Eats and Uber for Business — the latter already serves more than 300,000 companies managing employee rides and meals. Rosenblatt analyst Scott Devitt noted that bringing workplace buyers into the ecosystem strengthens the membership flywheel, and Uber for Business gross bookings grew more than 40% in the second quarter. Third, competition: DoorDash still leads the U.S. food-delivery market and has swallowed Wolt and Deliveroo; Uber needs catering as a differentiated lane to close the gap.
For restaurants, this opens a bulk-order channel — corporate catering is stable and high-ticket, a new gold mine beyond dine-in and single orders. For Uber Eats couriers, the company promises "attractive new opportunities to earn" from catering runs. For ezCater's 140,000 partner restaurants, Uber's global reach could further expand the order pool. The overhang: Uber shares are down 15% this year as investors weigh how robotaxis will reshape ride-hailing, leaving the delivery business carrying ever-higher expectations.
The transaction is expected to close in the coming months, pending regulatory clearance. As a horizontal deal in a market where DoorDash holds the larger U.S. share, approval is unlikely to be a real obstacle. After closing, watch three things: how fast ezCater's 140,000-restaurant network funnels into Uber Eats, enterprise customer retention, and whether catering's fat margins deliver as promised.