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. “Together, we’ll nearly double the number of markets where we offer both mobility and delivery services,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said. Uber has made the acquisition conditional on a minimum acceptance threshold of 50% plus one share. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of next year.