Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway has finalized the acquisition of Chicago-based Grubhub.
The move is part of an effort to create a global food delivery company. Takeaway purchased Just Eat in 2020 for $7.8 billion. The purchase of Grubhub began in June of 2020 and was valued at $7.3 billion.
“I have always believed that the combination of Takeaway.com, Just Eat and Grubhub is a winning combination,” Just Eat Takeaway CEO Jitse Groen. “The new company is the market leader in Europe, Canada and Australia, with very strong positions in the most important markets in the United States. It is humbling to run such a company after our start in Holland more than twenty years ago.”
Grubhub had been listed on the New York Stock Exchange. With the transaction closing, Grubhub was delisted on the New York Exchange, and the combined company is now listed on the NASDAQ.
“I couldn’t be more excited to enter this next chapter of Grubhub’s story with the global leadership and experience of the Just Eat Takeaway team,” Grubhub founder Matt Maloney said. “Our companies share an unwavering focus on supporting restaurants and our communities around the world. Together we will continue to innovate and break new ground in our industry as we each have separately for the past 20 years.”
Maloney is expected to join the Just Take Away board. Adam DeWitt becomes the new CEO of Grubhub.
The merger is part of a consolidation effort that has been underway in the third-party delivery industry over the past few years. Uber Technologies purchased Postmastes last year, and DoorDash purchased Cavier in 2019.
The third-party delivery companies grew significantly during the pandemic, but they have still been unable to become profitable. Grubhub reported a net loss in the first quarter of 2021 of $75.5 million on sales of $550 million.
