JUST EAT agrees to acquire four international takeaway food businesses for £94.7m

JUST EAT, the global digital marketplace for takeaway food delivery, has agreed to the acquisition of four businesses from Rocket Internet and foodpanda for £94.7m (€25m).

The businesses acquired are online takeaway food businesses trading in Spain (La Nevera Roja), Italy (PizzaBo/hellofood Italy), Brazil (hellofood Brazil) and Mexico (hellofood Mexico).

The acquisition is part of JUST EAT’s strategy to be a market-leader in the geographies in which it operates. The takeaway delivery market in these four territories is worth over £8bn.

The success of the 2014 consolidation in Brazil showed that in-market M&A in this industry can be effective. JUST EAT’s joint venture with Movile, iFood, is the Brazilian market leader and processed 1.1 million orders in December 2015, up 150% year-on-year.

The four acquired businesses grew orders by 83% in 2015, and JUST EAT expects the acquisition, net of one-off exceptional transaction and integration costs, to be accretive to adjusted EPS for the 2016 financial year and to add £5m to 2017 EBITDA.

Further material synergies and margin improvements are expected as the combined businesses achieve more profitable growth, with improvements to EBITDA of £10m per annum expected in 2018.

The acquisition of the businesses in Italy, Brazil and Mexico will be completed today. The acquisition of the Spanish business is subject to regulatory approval from the local competition authority, the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, and it is anticipated that it should completed by the end of Q2 2016.

The value of the gross assets of the businesses acquired as at 31 December 2014 was £5m (€6.4m) and the aggregate losses before tax for the year ending the same date were £13.1m (€16.3m).

David Buttress, CEO, commented: “This transaction reflects our ambition to make strategic, value-enhancing acquisitions that consolidate our leadership of the global digital marketplace for takeaway food delivery. JUST EAT has enhanced its market-leading positions in geographies that we understand and where our existing businesses are performing strongly.

“We are delighted to welcome our new team members to the JUST EAT family, and we look forward to working with them to improve the takeaway experience for both restaurant partners and consumers in Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico.”

Oliver Samwer, CEO and Founder, Rocket Internet, added: “This sale to JUST EAT represents a positive step forward for the global online takeaway industry enabling all parties to focus their resources on building bigger and better long term businesses in their key geographies”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →