Ride-hailing and delivery services have been hit hard by the global pandemic. In order to supply everyday goods and groceries, Uber has decided to expand its operations. On Monday, the company sat down with Postmates and offered an acquisition bid of $2.65 billion in stock.

According to an Uber Spokesperson, approval has been met by both parties and their boards. The next step is for them to issue 84 million shares of common stock. Uber planned to provide a 10% premium on the $2.4 billion which was Postmates’ last valuation. The acquired company’s stocks were up by 5%.

The deal is pending its regulatory approval. The buyout will completely shift the face of the market, where Uber will now hold almost a third of the entire food delivery market in the United States of America. It has come close to the biggest competitor and dominator of the market which is DoorDash, which holds an impressive 45% of the market share. 

CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi announced that the acquisition allows Uber to set its big plans into motion. They will no longer exclusively deliver only restaurant products but also grocery and every day essential items to customers’ doorsteps. He also mentioned how he envisions the company to become “an everyday service”.

Khosrowshahi also said that the deal is predicted to boost profitability for Uber Eats, as well as provide efficiency gains through Uber’s routing technology. 

Uber has already updated the option for sending packages via its ride-hailing service. It can now run this through Postmates network that spans around 4200 cities in the country. 

Uber had made an initial offer in June. Postmates board was concerned for the smaller player in a competitive market losing its stock’s long term performance. Uber became a stable option.