German food delivery start-up Delivery Hero remains unwilling to rush its long-rumored initial public offering (IPO) plans although the company's chief executive told CNBC on Tuesday it has the luxury of being able to do so at any time.
Delivery Hero, which is estimated to be valued at around $3 billion, had previously indicated back in 2015 that an IPO could be imminent, yet almost two years later its floatation does not appear to be forthcoming.
"We are in a position where we could at any point in time decide to go public (though) at the same time we don't have really a rush," CEO Niklas Östberg told CNBC on Tuesday.
"For us it was never a goal to be a public company, it was a goal to build a really good service and we will only go public when we really feel like that is going to improve our service and further expand our business," Östberg added.
The company now operates in 27 countries with approximately 17 million monthly users yet Östberg underlined that the food delivery space continued to be a highly competitive market and therefore the online food delivery company must continue to prioritize growth.
In December 2016, Delivery Hero acquired one of its most sought-after competitors Foodpanda, itself a Berlin-based start-up, in an attempt to strengthen its global leadership position.
When asked whether 2017 could be the year the company goes public, Östberg refused to speculate on such a possibility.
"I think as a group we are not profitable and in particular after that acquisition of Foodpanda, we are continuing to invest and grow the business faster," he concluded.
