Delivery platform Just Eat has agreed to sell its American arm, Grubhub, to the US takeaway startup Wonder.
Shares in Just Eat rose 19 per cent in early trades on the news.
Just Eat sold the platform for $650m (£500m), a 90 per cent discount on the $7bn it paid in 2021—or, adjusting for inflation, a 94 per cent discount.
Just Eat, which is listed in on Euronext Amsterdam and on the London Stock Exchange, has been trying to sell Grubhub for years, with investors urging the firm to spin the “capital allocation mistake” off back in 2022.
Grubhub has been struggling with declining order volumes and the impact of New York’s delivery fee caps, which add 15 per cent onto the cost of every order. Grubhub is not yet profitable.
“This deal delivers the right home for Grubhub and its employees. I would like to thank everyone at Grubhub for their contributions to both Grubhub and the wider Just Eat Takeaway.com business,” Groen added.
The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025 and will not affect Just Eat’s guidance for the year, the company said.
Marc Lore, founder and CEO of Wonder, said: “Wonder’s acquisition of Grubhub continues our mission to make great food more accessible.
“As we enhance our customer experience with selection, speed, and variety, we’re excited to soon offer a curated selection of Grubhub’s restaurant partners directly in the Wonder app, alongside our owned and operated restaurants and meal kits.
“Bringing Wonder and Grubhub together is the next step in our vision to create the super app for meal time, re-envisioning the future of food delivery.”
Wonder is food delivery service that allows users to order from multiple restaurants and chefs at once.