Deliveroo opens the door to £2.7bn takeover: Deliveroo has indicated it is open to a £2.7bn takeover by US rival Doordash. The food delivery firm said today (Friday, 25 April), after markets closed, that it had received a proposal from DoorDash, the $77bn US food delivery business, to buy it for 180p per share. Deliveroo, led by founder Will Shu, said the board was “minded to recommend such an offer to Deliveroo shareholders” if it received a firm offer for the business. “Accordingly, the board of Deliveroo decided to engage in discussions with DoorDash in relation to the possible offer and has provided DoorDash with access to due diligence,” the company said. DoorDash must now make a firm offer by 23 May. Deliveroo was valued at £7.6bn when it floated in March 2021, but lost a quarter of its value shortly afterwards. Shares were valued at 146p when markets closed on Friday. DoorDash’s takeover would earn Shu more than £170m, based on his current holdings. Amazon, the company’s biggest shareholder with a 14% stake, would receive £387m. Shu, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker, started the business in 2013, personally delivering takeaways around Canary Wharf. Like Deliveroo, DoorDash offers takeaway deliveries via an app through a network of takeaway couriers. It is led by its founder, Tony Xu, a Chinese-American billionaire who set up the business in 2013. He is worth an estimated $2.2bn. In November, Just Eat Takeaway, one of Deliveroo’s biggest rivals, also delisted from the exchange after its value slumped, before confirming in February it had agreed to be taken over by South African-owned investment firm Prosus. Doordash also owns Wolt, a European food delivery company, although it has little crossover with Deliveroo. Shares in DoorDash dropped 3% on the news of the takeover talks.

Parsons Bakery hands over the reins to its employees: Parsons Bakery, which operates more than 50 stores across the south west and Wales, has become one of the largest employee-owned companies in the region. The company has created an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), giving its 400-plus staff a controlling interest in the company. Founded in 1926 in North Somerset, the family-run business now operates in ten different counties. EOTs are a government initiative aimed to promote employee ownership by giving business owners the opportunity to sell their shares to an employee-owned trust free from capital gains tax, reports the BBC. They do not involve direct share ownership by employees, but a controlling interest is transferred to an all-employee trust which is held for the benefit of employees. The first Parsons Bakery was opened in Clevedon nearly a century ago, and the third-generation business now has shops in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Berkshire, Bath, Bristol and in Wales. In the last few years, majority shareholders Nick and Nicola Parsons have stepped back from the business. Now it is hoped the trust will ensure the bakery will remain independent and “rooted in the communities it has served” for 99 years. “For generations, our family has been at the heart of this business, but we’ve always known that our employees are what truly make it thrive,” said Mr Parsons. “Now, as we take a step back, we do so knowing Parsons is in the best possible hands – those of the people who bake, serve and keep it running every day.” Retail director Lee Insull-Griffith added: “Now, everyone will get a slice of the pie, pardon the pun. The trust will make sure that everything we do is in the interest of the employees and ultimately the results we achieve as a business are shared amongst those employees.” In the year to 31 December 2023, the company reported an increase in turnover from £14,352619 to £14,738,020. Its pre-tax profit dropped from £1,024,657 in 2022 to £506,052 while Ebitda saw a decline from £1,376,953 to £827,967.