After successfully completing the acquisition of Grubhub, Just Eat Takeaway to buy Slovakia’s Bistro.sk for €50M

Amsterdam-based online food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway.com has, today, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Bistro.sk business in Slovakia from Ringier Axel Springer Media.

The enterprise value for the transaction is nearly €50M, and is expected to close later this year, in 2021. With this development, Bistro.sk will adopt the Just Eat Takeaway.com global brand identity and migrate to the company’s European IT-platform.

About Bistro.sk

Bistro is an online platform for food delivery. It allows users to search for restaurants on the basis of location & cuisine, browse the menu, and place orders. Currently, the company is operational in Slovakia. The company offers more than 1837 restaurants from all over Slovakia, partners with approx 2,000 online restaurants, serving more than 400,000 active consumers.

Mark Dekan, CEO of Ringier Axel Springer, explains, “With Bistro.sk we introduced a new business model to the Slovakian market, building organically, with entrepreneur spirit, a strong online food delivery service from scratch, which grew from a few daily orders to millions a year.”

“Today the time has come to prepare Bistro.sk for further growth. We are happy that with Just Eat Takeaway.com we have found a partner who will contribute international know-how in food delivery to grow the brand. The transaction will enable Ringier Axel Springer Media to focus on its strategy based on online publishing, classifieds and community business in Slovakia,” adds Dekan.

Aim of this acquisition

Speaking on the development, Joerg Gerbig, COO of Just Eat Takeaway, says, “With the acquisition of Bistro.sk we are adding a profitable and highly complementary online food delivery platform to our geographical footprint. The business has strong foundations we can build on: a number one position in online food delivery, market leading top-of-mind brand awareness and attractive consumer cohorts. We look forward to growing the business.”

Everything about Just Eat Takeaway

Just Eat Takeaway claims to be one of the largest online food delivery marketplaces, outside China. It is focused on connecting consumers and restaurants through its platforms. The company mainly collaborates with delivery restaurants. 

Additionally, it also provides its proprietary ‘restaurant delivery services’ to restaurants that do not deliver themselves. It is connected with nearly 250,000 restaurants and operates in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland, as well as through partnerships in Colombia and Brazil.

Recently, Just Eat Takeaway announced that it would launch a supermarket delivery service in Germany via its Lieferando.de service. Besides, the company is looking to launch the same service in the UK and the Netherlands.

In March 2021, the company announced that its revenue surged to 54 per cent to €2.4B; adjusted EBITDA of €256M. Prior to that in February 2021, it had raised €1.1B through an offering of convertible bonds. And, last year in October 2020, the company had acquired 100 per cent of the shares of the US-based food delivery app Grubhub, in an all-stock transaction – a €6.5B deal – to create the world’s largest online food delivery company outside of China.

The Grubhub grab!

Last year, Just Eat Takeaway and US-based food delivery app Grubhub entered into a definitive agreement. Last month, shareholders of Grubhub Inc have approved the proposals necessary to complete the proposed acquisition by Just Eat Takeaway.com N.V. of 100 per cent of the shares of Grubhub in an all-stock transaction. 

This takeover makes Just Eat Takeaway one of the world’s largest online food delivery companies, with a gross turnover of almost €14B. The deal is the fifth by the Dutch company in three years.

On 15 June 2021, Just Eat Takeaway.com successfully completed the acquisition of Grubhub. Recently, Just Eat Takeaway released its Q2 2021 trading update, according to which, the company’s half year 2021 orders shot up 61 per cent (51 per cent including Grubhub), and registered Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of €14.1B. 

The GTV for the full year 2021 for Just Eat Takeaway.com (including Grubhub) is expected to be in a range of €28 to €30B.

“We have combined Just Eat Takeaway.com and Grubhub into one of the largest online food delivery companies in the world. The new combination grew 51 per cent in terms of orders in the first half year. Adjusted EBITDA losses, mainly caused by US and Canadian fee caps and our investment programme, have now peaked. We therefore expect the Company to trend back to profitability going forward while retaining significant growth during the second half of the year,” says Jitse Groen, CEO of Just Eat Takeaway.com.