Delivery Hero has ceased negotiations regarding the potential sale of its Foodpanda business in select Southeast Asian markets.

The German online food ordering platform was in discussions to divest its operations in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Delivery Hero co-founder and CEO Niklas Östberg said: “The strength of our APAC [Asia Pacific] business has become evident during the last quarters as the region reached an inflection point in 2023.

“We believe the region remains strongly positioned to drive profitable growth at scale. The decision to terminate negotiations after months of discussions was taken after careful consideration.”

On 2 February 2024, Delivery Hero reconfirmed its ongoing discussions and expressed optimism about reaching agreeable terms with the main negotiating counterpart.

The company believed that it had aligned with the potential buyer on the fundamental terms of the sale.

But the situation has since changed, leading Delivery Hero to withdraw from the negotiations.

Delivery Hero said in a statement: “As always, the company will remain open to mergers and acquisitions and will continue to assess potential strategic alternatives.

“However, Delivery Hero will only proceed with negotiations where it can create value for shareholders with high certainty of closing.

“Delivery Hero continues to exercise a disciplined investment policy aimed at maximising profitable growth and free cash flow generation in its operations.”

In late January 2024 Delivery Hero placed 68 million Class A shares in Deliveroo with institutional investors for settlement on 1 February.

The shares translate to an approximately 4.5% stake and mark Delivery Hero’s exit from the London-based firm.

The German company placed the Deliveroo shares for £1.13 ($1.43) per share with institutional investors in an accelerated bookbuilding process.