Grubhub Sold to Delivery Startup Wonder at 90% Loss

After a two-year search for a buyer, Just Eat Takeaway has sold Grubhub to food delivery startup Wonder.

The company announced the sale Wednesday (Nov. 13), saying Wonder would pay $650 million to purchase Grubhub. That’s far less than the $7.3 billion Just Eat paid for Grubhub in 2021.

“The sale of Grubhub to Wonder will increase the cash generation capabilities of Just Eat Takeaway.com and will accelerate our growth,” Just Eat founder and CEO Jitse Groen said in a news release. “This deal delivers the right home for Grubhub and its employees.”

Added Marc Lore, Wonder’s founder and CEO: “As we enhance our customer experience with selection, speed, and variety, we’re excited to soon offer a curated selection of Grubhub’s restaurant partners directly in the Wonder app, alongside our owned and operated restaurants and meal kits.”

Just Eat Takeaway initially announced its purchase of Grubhub in 2020, with the deal closing in June of the following year.

Ten months later – and after earlier denying rumors of a pending sale – the Netherlands-based Just Eat announced that it was “actively exploring” the possibility of a partial or full sale of Grubhub, or bringing in a strategic partner.

Grubhub and other companies like it had seen their businesses soar during the pandemic, when people splurged on food delivery. But Grubhub began to struggle as the pandemic wound down and consumers – scared off by rising restaurant prices – began to seek cheaper food options.

According to a May report by the Financial Times, food delivery platforms had suffered more than $20 billion in losses since going public, with shares in the four largest, publicly-traded American/European delivery apps — DoorDash, Delivery Hero, Just Eat Takeaway and Deliveroo — trading below the peaks they saw during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote earlier this year about efforts by companies such as Wonder to become a one-stop provider for food. In the case of Wonder, that meant providing omnichannel food halls and acquiring meal kit company Blue Apron to create a “mealtime super app.”

In a March interview with PYMNTS, Wonder Chief Growth and Marketing Officer Daniel Shlossman said that the company’s partnership with Walmart allows it to connect restaurant ordering opportunities to consumers’ grocery and retail shopping habits.

“We do expect customers to place orders maybe when they are heading into the Walmart, and the food is going to be right there ready for them for pickup when they’re leaving,” he said. “We also see people that are maybe in the middle of running errands, and they’ve just made their Walmart run, and they can stop off and have a bite before they head to their next destination.