Grubhub To Be Bought For $7.3 Billion By Just Eat

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Just Eat Takeaway.com of the Netherlands reached a deal to acquire Grubhub (GRUB) - Get Report for $7.3 billion, creating a giant in the food-delivery business.

Just Eat agreed to pay $75.15 a share for Grubhub in an all-stock transaction.

Grubhub shares rose 5.5% in trading Thursday to $62.30.

“ Grubhub is the best food delivery company in the U.S. and it is the only one which is culturally similar to Just Eat Takeaway.com,” Just Eat said in a press release.

Just Eat's deal for Grubhub means Uber Technologies (UBER) - Get Report, which had been negotiating with Grubhub for a merger, has been left at the altar.

Reports last month said that Grubhub was in talks with Uber, the San Francisco ride-hailing and food-delivery company.

But several Democratic senators expressed concern about the combination, which would put rival DoorDash at a disadvantage.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Cory Booker of New Jersey last month urged antitrust regulators to investigate the Grubhub-Uber transaction if it occurred.

Late in May, Bloomberg reported that Grubhub was asking Uber to pay a breakup fee if the government blocked their tie-up. Uber wasn’t receptive to the idea.

The two sides also disagreed about the price. Uber was willing to pay Grubhub holders 1.9 of its shares for each of their shares, sources told The Wall Street Journal. Grubhub was seeking 2.15 Uber shares per Grubhub share.

In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, a spokesman for Uber said the company believes the industry needs consolidation but that it’s not interested in “doing any deal, at any price, with any player.”

Uber shares fell 5.11% to $33.05.

By Joseph Woelfel
June 11, 2020
Source: Thestreet.com