Food delivery service provider foodpanda is retrenching a number of staff in the lead-up to the potential sale of its Southeast Asia business.

Media reports cited an internal memo by Jakob Sebastian Angele, APAC CEO of foodpanda explaining that the company's priority is to "become leaner, more efficient and even more agile".

"To do this, we need to streamline our operations so we can take on a more structured approach for the coming days," he said.

There is no word on the number of employees who will be affected by the retrenchment.

Third round of job cuts

This is foodpanda's third round of job cuts in slightly over a year.

It retrenched some of its Singapore staff in September 2022 to reduce cost and remain competitive.

In February 2023, it downsized again, cutting a number of roles based out of Malaysia.

According to CNBC, Angele said that despite the earlier measures this year, the company has to do more to "create the right set-up for our operations".

Potential sale of foodpanda in Southeast Asia

This latest round of retrenchments comes on the heels of news that foodpanda's parent company, Delivery Hero, is planning to sell part of its delivery business in Southeast Asia.

More specifically, Delivery Hero is reportedly planning to sell foodpanda's operations in selected Southeast Asia markets, such as:

• Singapore,
• Malaysia,
• Cambodia,
• Myanmar,
• The Philippines,
• Thailand, and
• Laos.

Grab is reportedly one of the potential buyers, according to Reuters, and could pay slightly over 1 billion euros (S$1.5 billion) for the unit.

When contacted, foodpanda only confirmed that Delivery Hero is negotiating with several parties a "potential sale of its foodpanda business in selected Southeast Asia markets".

It added that any discussions or plans are in their preliminary stages.

Grab declined to comment.

Top photo: foodpanda