Food Delivery company Just Eat Takeaway to acquire Grubhub for $7.3 Billion

Europe-based food ordering company, Just Eat Takeaway announced on Wednesday that it had agreed to buy U.S peer Grubhub (GRUB) in an all-stock deal. Just Eat Takeaway stands to be the world’s largest food delivery company outside China if the deal is completed.

According to both companies in a joint statement, the deal would create a bigger and better company “built around four of the world’s largest profit pools in food delivery: the US, the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany.”

At the end of the deal, both companies stand to benefit greatly. For Grubhub, the deal would help the company escape antitrust concerns that arose from its talks with Uber Eats, the food delivery unit of cab-hailing giant, Uber.

In May, Uber Eats presented Grubhub with all-stock deal offers, which turned out to be unsuccessful earlier this week. Regarding the deal with Grubhub, Uber said its food delivery unit was in need of consolidation, but it simply wasn’t going to get involved with just “any player” and “any price.”

Comparing both offers, Matt Maloney, Grubhub CEO, said Just Eat Takeaway presented them with an offer at a reasonable price which made the decision “very easy.” Following the announcement, Grubhub’s stock price jumped nearly 6% in aftermarket trading while Just Eat Takeaway shares closed nearly 13%.

Just Eat Takeaway says it hopes to close the deal by the first quarter of 2021, pending on the decision and approval of the shareholders. The combined headquarters will be located in Amsterdam.

According to experts, consolidation in the food delivery industry is long overdue as demand is on the increase due to the coronavirus pandemic and stay home precautions.

In a joint presentation, the companies said that Just Eat Takeaway had revenues of 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion), while Grubhub had revenues of 1.2 billion euros in 2019.