Uber agreed on Thursday to buy Germany’s Delivery Hero at an equity value of $14.8 billion to create the largest food-delivery group outside China and stave off intensifying competition from US and European rivals.

The acquisition advances the US ride-hailing firm’s efforts to build a global food-delivery business that can better compete with Just Eat, owned by Dutch group Prosus and US rival DoorDash, which has been expanding aggressively.

It is likely to face a complex regulatory process as the combination would create a platform spanning 99 countries.