European food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway.com is selling Grubhub for $650 million, down from the billions it spent just three years ago to acquire the U.S. platform. It's only a fraction of the dollar.
Wonder Group, a New York-based food ordering company that promotes “fast fine” dining, will be Grubhub's new owner.
Under terms of the deal announced Wednesday, Wonder will acquire Grubhub from Just Eat Takeaway.com for $150 million in cash and $500 million in senior notes.
This is much cheaper than Grubhub's previous sale price.
In 2020, Just Eat agreed to acquire Grubhub for $7.3 billion during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand for takeout meals was surging. The transaction was later completed in 2021.
Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway.com acknowledged Wednesday that it had been “actively considering” a partial or complete sale of Grubhub for some time, citing a prior announcement from the company.
Just Eat Takeaway.com added that selling Grubhub to Wonder will increase growth and cash generation and support investment in countries where it has “the greatest competitive advantage.”
The company currently operates in 18 countries outside of the United States.
The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
Once completed, Just Eat Takeaway.com says it will not have any material liability related to Grubhub.
“This agreement provides a suitable home for Grubhub and its employees,” Jitse Groen, CEO of Just Eat Takeaway.com, said in a statement. The company's stock had risen more than 15% by midday Wednesday.
Wonder and Grubhub CEOs Marc Lore and Howard Migdal also spoke positively Wednesday, saying the partnership supports Wonder's mission to “make great food more accessible.” He pointed out that it will support and improve customer experience.
Wonder, founded by Lore, describes itself as a “new kind of food hall” that delivers made-to-order meals from celebrity chefs and restaurants.
helaine sideman
The New York startup was once known for its fleet of delivery trucks, but later moved to a more brick-and-mortar approach. We are also expanding our online services.
Last year, Wonder acquired meal kit company Blue Apron for $103 million.
Headquartered in Chicago, Grubhub operates in more than 4,000 U.S. cities and has more than 375,000 merchants and 200,000 delivery partners nationwide.
According to Just Eat Takeaway.com, the platform generated 237 million orders last year, with a total transaction value of approximately $8.53 billion.
Takeaway.com and Grubhub, which merged with Just Eat in 2020, were both founded in the early 2000s and were among the earliest companies to enter the space.
But now popular platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash have also joined the game, and competition has quickly increased. Additionally, customers moving back and forth between apps can make it difficult to maintain stable sales.
As of March 2024, Grubhub accounted for just 8% of U.S. meal delivery consumer spending, far less than DoorDash and Uber Eats, according to figures from data analytics firm Bloomberg Second Measure.
DoorDash is currently winning the second-by-second “food delivery wars” with 67% of sales, followed by Uber Eats with 23%.
This article has been updated to correct that the total transaction value generated by GrubHub is 8.06 billion euros, not 1 million euros.
