Wolt CEO Miki Kuusi says that the delivery company's sale to DoorDash was a 'small surprise' even to him. The firm's plan was to list on the stock exchange, rather than sell up to a rival.

Late on Tuesday the firm announced a deal worth roughly seven billion euros to sell to DoorDash, representing one of the biggest takeovers ever involving a Finnish company.

Kuusi says that even a few months ago, he thought it unlikely that Wolt would be sold.

"This was a difficult decision on a personal level as well," said Kuusi.

The deal made big headlines in Finland, with ministers and business figures praising the company for its apparent success.

"Really exciting opportunity"

According to Kuusi, Wolt has had close links with DoorDash for some time. For example. Kuusi has known DoorDash CEO Tony Xu for a number of years.

"We haven't realised how similar we are as companies, and how similar our thinking is," said Kuusi.

The position of DoorDash as a large international company was also attractive. The firm is the biggest food courier service in the United States.

"It's a really exciting opportunity," said Kuusi, who will now head up the firm's international operations.

"We have always been a small firm focused on the domestic market, which has competed against companies with ten or a hundred times more funding than us," said Kuusi.

After the deal Wolt will continue operations with its own name and products. Wolt's customers, partners and couriers will see things continue as before.

One issue the new firm will have to deal with is the ruling that found Wolt couriers in Finland are employees, not entrepreneurs.

The company claims that couriers prefer to be entrepreneurs rather than employees.