Zomato plans to sell UAE business to German company

Zomato, web-based food ordering and restaurant finding service, is in talks with German company Delivery Hero to sell its business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sources say the Indian company seeks $200-250 million deal, reported Times of India.

The company aims to raise cash by divestment in order to get an edge over its competitor Swiggy. It is learnt that Zomato is also in talks with their investor Ant Financial, Alibaba's payment affiliate, to raise fresh capital from $500 million to $1 billion. According to the report in TOI, Zomato also held talks with Chinese private equity player Primavera Capital.

The divestment move came after the reluctance of co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal to giving more stake to Ant Financial, the report cited sources. The Chinese firm has 28 percent stake in Zomato.

Zomato, however, refused to comment on this development, saying "the company does not comment on rumours and speculation."

The German company Delivery Hero had a presence in India through Foodpanda before the stake was sold to cab aggregator Ola.