Uber has commenced talks to buy food-delivery app Deliveroo, it has been reported.
The London-based food delivery company has been valued at more than $2bn (£1.5bn) and any potential takeover would require a bid considerably above this figure.
Deliveroo was founded in 2013 and allows users to order food from local restaurants. It currently operates in 200 cities across the planet and last year raised $482m (£364m) through venture funding.
Any talks with Uber could however fall apart before an agreement is reached because Deliveroo has shown reluctance to give up its independence, sources told Bloomberg.
Deliveroo is one of the main rivals to Uber’s very own food-delivery service, Uber Eats.
Uber Eats was launched in 2014 and the company claims it is the largest food delivery service outside of China.
It operates in more than 290 cities across the globe and is set to reach an annual revenue of $6bn (£4.5bn).
The news of the talks comes as scores of Uber Eats drivers staged a protest over pay at the company’s London offices.
The Uber protestors said it was a spontaneous show of action against the company, claiming rates for every delivery had been reduced without agreement.
One of the drivers said: “Some of us are facing a cut from £4.60 a drop to £2.80 which is totally unacceptable.
“No one has organised this, it’s just a spontaneous show of anger at what is happening.”
The riders protested outside company offices in Aldgate East before going to Trafalgar Square.
The protest then moved onto parliament, where couriers blocked roads, sounded their horns and chanted “no money and no food”.
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