The Japanese conglomerate, a shareholder in both of the competing food-delivery companies through its US$100-billion Vision Fund, has been concerned about Uber’s market struggles. DoorDash was reportedly reluctant to enter into merger talks six months ago, but did so at SoftBank’s behest. No deal was reached. (Financial Times)

Talking point: A merger of DoorDash and Uber’s Eats businesses, two of SoftBank’s largest investments, would have created a food-delivery market giant out of two of SoftBank’s largest investments; as it stands, they are pitted against each other, and against several of the Japanese group’s other investments in food-delivery services like Colombian Rappi and Singaporean Grab. SoftBank’s decision to invest in competitors has surprised onlookers and led to unusual outcomes, including a fierce price war in Latin America between Uber, Rappi and China’s DiDi Chuxing, all of which are SoftBank-backed. These companies are also struggling. Uber has shed value since its May 2019 IPO, resulting in it ending its food-delivery operations in South Korea and selling its Indian food-delivery unit to local rival Zomato. Meanwhile, DoorDash was recently unable to close a big new funding round, and earlier this month, Rappi laid off six per cent of its workers.