- Grubhub was burning cash
- JET's core markets are now the focus
Entering the US online food delivery market during the pandemic, when demand from homebound consumers soared, was too delicious an opportunity for Just Eat Takeaway (JET) to pass up. The acquisition of Grubhub has proved to be a disaster in practice, but sizeable capital returns could now be on the table after the sale of the misfiring unit was finally agreed.
Before considering a slimmed down Just Eat, the deal details are worth mentioning: its big entrance into the US in 2021 was delivered through the $7.3bn (£5.8bn) it paid for Grubhub. The one saving grace is that this was an all-share deal, so did not lumber Just Eat with debt. Last week, New-York based takeaway company Wonder Group agreed to take Grubhub for $650mn, a more than 90 per cent discount to the original purchase price. Just Eat will only see net proceeds of up to $50mn, after the transfer of $500mn of debt and other adjustments are taken into account. The transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2025.