Just Eat Takeaway's $7.3bn acquisition of Grubhub

“Combining the companies that started it all will mean that two trailblazing startups have become a clear global leader.” – Matt Maloney, Grubhub's chief executive

Who?

Acquirer: Just Eat Takeaway.com N.V.

Just Eat Takeaway.com is a leading online food delivery company and operates, via its online platform, as a secure and easy intermediary between restaurants and consumers. The combined Just Eat Takeaway.com group recently listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100.

Seller (Target): Grubhub

Grubhub is a leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace with the largest and most comprehensive network of restaurant partners. Grubhub features over 300,000 restaurants and is partnered with more than 225,000 of them in over 4,000 US cities. The Grubhub portfolio of brands includes Grubhub, Seamless, LevelUp, AllMenus and MenuPages.

The Deal

Value: $7.3bn (all-share transaction)

Announced: 10 June 2020 (completion anticipated in Q1 2021)

Financial Advisors to Just Eat Takeaway.com: Evercore, Centerview Partners

Financial Advisors to Grubhub: Goldman Sachs, BofA Merrill Lynch

Why?

Strategic Rationale:

(Check out M&A Insight's prior coverage on this transaction)

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Just Eat Takeaway.com to Combine with Gr

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[More on the deal rationale]

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Interestingly:

– Shareholders had a distasteful reaction following confirmation of talks (shares fell 13%): This is explainable by the limited marketing efficiencies from consolidation due to the geographical dispersion between Just Eat Takeaway and Grubhub. Consequently, material investment is required to achieve Grubhub's growth in the US.

– The Grubhub acquisition was sealed just months after Just Eat Takeaway's merger had been approved.

“Would it be better to just wait one year after every transaction? Yes, sure. We’d get more sleep. But that’s just not how the world turns.” – Jitse Groen, Just Eat Takeaway's chief executive

– Just Eat Takeaway beat out Uber in acquiring Grubhub, seemingly due to antitrust and regulatory concerns. Bids were also considered by Germany's Delivery Hero.

Touching on Uber: in July, they acquired Postmates in an all-stock deal valued at $2.65bn.

Food delivery's Transaction Spree (FT timeline)