Deliveroo joins DoorDash: aim to expand and improve the platform

It's done: Deliveroo formally joins DoorDash. The co-founder of Wolt, Miki Kuusi, will be the new CEO of the UK takeaway food platform - in addition to retaining his current role as Head of international at DoorDash - and will move to London in the coming months. The acquisition - announced last May - values Deliveroo at £2.9 billion ($4 billion).

The formalisation of the deal - which came after the green light from the High Court of Justice of England and Wales - was disclosed in an open letter in which DoorDash co-founder and CEO Tony Xu speaks of "the beginning of a new chapter", not the "end of the old one", declaring that Deliveroo's "well-known and loved" app and products will not disappear". The letter goes on to point out that with DoorDash's technology and global reach, there is now 'the opportunity to reach more people, in more places, with greater impact'.

To Deliveroo's 7 million active consumers, Xu speaks of the company's intentions to make the user experience 'even faster, brighter, and more enjoyable', then addresses the 178,000-strong network of merchants on the platform, appealing to the company's ambition to introduce more tools to help businesses 'grow both online and offline'.

To Deliveroo's network of 130,000 riders, Xu says that 'flexibility' will be protected while there will be a commitment to 'new forms of support and protection to make deliveries easier and safer'.

Deliveroo's new ceo, Miki Kuusi, turns instead to Deliveroo's former ceo and co-founder, Will Shu, thanking him and acknowledging him for building 'a strong brand, an outstanding product and world-class operations'. "It is extraordinary," he concludes, "what this team has built and achieved; I couldn't be more excited to learn from each one now as we take our shared mission to the next level.