Once Worth $7.3 Billion, Grubhub Sells for Just $650 Million

An anonymous reader writes: Europe’s biggest meal delivery firm, Just Eat Takeaway, said on Wednesday it had struck a deal to sell its U.S. unit Grubhub to Wonder for $650 million, sending its shares soaring 20% in early trading. The Amsterdam-listed company had been looking to offload Chicago-based Grubhub since as early as 2022, after acquiring it in 2020 in a $7.3 billion deal amid a pandemic-driven boom in delivery services — a process that was hampered by slowing growth, high taxes and a question of fee caps in New York City.

“Just Eat Takeaway is at last putting an end to its disastrous U.S. journey,” Bryan Garnier analyst Clement Genelot said, noting the group had destroyed more than $7 billion in shareholder value there. Grubhub’s enterprise value of $650 million includes $500 million of senior notes and $150 million cash, Wonder said in a statement. Wonder is a food-delivery startup led by former Walmart executive Marc Lore.