Just Eat To Acquire Australian Rival Menulog Group for USD$678m

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Just Eat, the UK-headquartered online and mobile marketplace for takeaway food, is set to acquire its Australia and New Zealand rival Menulog Group Ltd for AUD855 million, or about USD678 million.

The proposed acquisition comes as Australia and New Zealand’s takeaway delivery market size has grown to AUD3 billion, with Menulog taking the market lead.

Menulog is Australia’s largest online food and beverage ordering service company by number of orders.

The service allows users to search for restaurants and various takeaway establishments, indicative of chosen cuisine and location, and browse local takeaway menus and reviews before placing an order online, and selecting payment method.

In a regulatory statement at the London Stock Exchange, Just Eat said the deal is being done through the acquisition of the entire issued and outstanding capital stock of Menulog and will be financed by Just Eat from the proceeds of an issue of new equity.

“The Australian and New Zealand markets exhibit a number of strong characteristics that make it similar to the UK and therefore a market in which aggregators should thrive,” Just Eat said.

“Since the time of our IPO last year, we have consistently stated that participating in a disciplined manner in industry consolidation was an important strategic objective for Just Eat,” stated David Buttress, Chief Executive Officer of Just Eat Plc.

The proposed acquisition will allow Menulog to benefit from Just Eat’s experience and know-how, particularly in digital marketing, and enhance customer service model to drive further growth and efficiency across the business, said Dan Katz, Menulog chief executive officer.

Source : BusinessNewsAsia.com   May 9th 2015