It is a dog eat dog world: online food delivery service Takeaway.com, best known for its brands thuisbezorgd.nl and pizza.be, has announced it has consumed the Dutch and Belgian businesses of their competitor JUST EAT plc. With this tasty takeover Takeaway.com further solidifies its position in the Benelux. The food firm has plans to expand further into Europe, but in a lot of other countries JUST EAT is still the market leader.
€22.5 million meal deal
For Takeaway.com, the total cost of consuming JUST EAT’s Benelux businesses will come with a bill of €22.5 million payable in cash. Eighty percent of this was paid straight away while the remaining twenty percent is to be paid six months after completion. At this point it is not known whether Takeaway.com will leave a tip.
Wider variety
Takeaway.com’s 7 million customers will now get an even wider variety choice of restaurants to choose from. For its 30.000 restaurants this will also be a delicious deal, as they gain a larger potential audience for their meals. Takeaway.com explains it will merge the devoured businesses into one leading player to further support growth and profitability. Customers as well as restaurants can access these added businesses through Takeaway.com’s highly scalable global technology platform.
Appetite for expansion
For Jitse Groen, CEO and founder of Takeaway.com, the acquisition seems to increase his appetite for European expansion:
“These activities will further strengthen our leading positions in Continental Europe. Takeaway.com strives to further enhance its competitive position in each of the 11 markets it operates in. This transaction should be seen in that context.”
“Clear Leader in remaining markets”
David Buttress, CEO of JUST EAT, explains why it was a strategic decision to let Takeaway.com just eat their Benelux businesses:
“We have always been clear that the competitive dynamics of our industry demand clear market leadership to drive sustainable profitability. The disposal of our Benelux business, where we are number two, delivers on that strategy and comes at the right time for JUST EAT”.
The Maître C’EO is quick to point out though that his company is still market leader in many other countries:
“We are the clear leader in our remaining 12 markets. It is appropriate that our time and resources are focused on building on the strong growth we are seeing across those businesses in future.”
Heavy meals ahead?
If there is anything to take away (bedum tsss!) from this merger, it is that no matter how good you are, it seems the local market leaders will always win in their own home markets. Takeaway.com currently has market leading positions in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Poland. A lot of other markets have their own local leaders. Meanwhile in the Netherlands the company is facing increasing competition from niche online food(ie) delivery services like Foodora and Deliveroo. This could mean there may still be some heavy and hard to digest meals ahead for Takeaway.com in their continental expansion plans.
Pizza image via Shutterstock
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