Grubhub Gets Snatched Up by Wonder at a 90% Discount
Sometimes, the best deals come at a discount, and Wonder has seized one. After an exhaustive two-year search for a new owner, Just Eat Takeaway confirmed the sale of Grubhub to the emerging food delivery startup Wonder for a mere $650M. This transaction represents a 90% loss from the $7.3B price tag Just Eat paid for Grubhub in 2021. The decision to offload Grubhub is part of Just Eat’s strategy to streamline operations and improve cash flow.
- Just Eat’s shares jumped 16% on the news, suggesting investors are relieved to see the end of what analyst Clement Genelot calls a “disastrous US journey.”
- The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025, and Wonder’s founder, Marc Lore, has ambitious plans, aiming for an IPO by 2027 with a target valuation of $30B.
Serving change: The food delivery sector boomed during the pandemic, making platforms like DoorDash, Delivery Hero, and Deliveroo household names. But as the world returns to normalcy, publicly-traded food delivery companies are grappling with lower demand and rising restaurant prices, leading to over $20B in losses and sharp declines in stock value since pandemic peaks. Despite these challenges, Wonder hopes to turn Grubhub into a “mealtime super app,” incorporating meal kits and partnerships with major retailers like Amazon and Walmart to bring a fresh approach to food delivery.
