FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The possible merger of the two largest delivery service providers in Southeast Asia is once again raising concerns among Delivery Hero investors about a failure of the hoped-for sale in the region. The food delivery company's shares came under pressure on Friday. According to a report by the Bloomberg news agency, Grab and Goto, the two top dogs in the region, are reportedly starting a new round of merger talks. In addition to taxi-type transportation, the companies also offer transport and delivery services.

In early trading on Friday, the shares lost 2.4 percent of their value after being under much greater pressure at times earlier in the day. Investors' concerns that the hoped-for sale of the MDax company's activities in South East Asia might not work out if the potential buyer Grab holds talks elsewhere continued to weigh on the share price. The speculation was not alleviated by the fact that a Goto representative denied the report of talks.

Concerns surrounding the hoped-for sale of the Southeast Asia business had already weighed heavily on Delivery Hero shares recently, pushing them to a record low. A stabilization in recent days could therefore come to an end again. As in the previous year, Delivery Hero shares have been among the biggest MDax losers so far in 2024. In 2021 and 2022, they had already attracted attention due to pronounced price losses./tav/ngu/tih