Uber Technologies is hungry for a deal. The ride-hailing company has offered to buy Germany's Delivery Hero for around $11.6 billion, but could be forced to go higher as the food-delivery market consolidates around a few big players.

Delivery Hero confirmed over the weekend that Uber had made a 33 euros ($38.40)-a-share offer for the entire company.

Delivery Hero shares, which trade on the Deutsche Börse Xetra, closed up 3% Tuesday at EUR38.75 a share in local trading, valuing the company at EUR11.42 billion, or $13.29 billion. Uber shares closed down 2.4% Tuesday.

The bid isn't a great surprise. Uber has been building its stake in Delivery Hero in recent weeks, holding a direct stake of 19.5% in the company, with an additional 5.6% held through financial contracts.

The move could be a way to ward off reported interest from DoorDash in at least some of Delivery Hero's assets. DoorDash announced the acquisition of British company Deliveroo for around $3.9 billion last year.

After a period when the market was filled with dozens of delivery apps -- fueled by the boom in home orders during the Covid-19 pandemic -- the market is swiftly consolidating around a few big companies. Thin margins and less venture-capital money, which is now focused on artificial intelligence and space, has meant smaller players find it hard to stay independent.

Food-delivery companies are also preparing for the next stage in the market, when they hope autonomous vehicles and robots will enable quicker and more profitable deliveries. Amazon.com said earlier this month that it was launching 30-minute deliveries on "thousands of groceries and essentials," with the service coming to dozens of U.S. cities.

"The addition of Delivery Hero would enable Uber to solidify its marketplace flywheel in some of its key International growth markets (particularly Asia) and continue to build on its competitive strengths in Europe," wrote D.A. Davidson analyst Tom White in a research note.