Food Delivery Service Grubhub Sold to Wonder Group for $650 Million

In a deal worth $650 million, Just Eat Takeaway.com sold food delivery service Grubhub to Wonder Group Inc. The acquisition will be completed sometime early next year.

It’s quite a deal for Wonder — specifically, a 90% discount — as Just Eat bought Grubhub for $7.3 billion in 2021. Part of the purchase includes Wonder paying $150 million in cash and taking on $500 million worth of debt owed by Grubhub, according to The Associated Press.

The purchase of Grubhub adds to Wonder’s portfolio of delivery-focused restaurants in New York and Philadelphia. Wonder currently operates about 30 “ghost kitchens” where several restaurants prepare and deliver food under various brands. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, the company is looking to expand the idea to 100 spots by the start of 2026.

Just Eat initially acquired Grubhub to break into the U.S. food delivery market. The company currently provides delivery in 18 other countries.

Yet, it didn’t take long before Just Eat tried to unload the delivery service. In April 2022, Just Eat announced it wanted to sell Grubhub. Company leaders thought it best to get rid Grubhub as it failed to effectively compete against rivals Uber Eats and DoorDash.

“The sale of Grubhub to Wonder will increase the cash generation capabilities of Just Eat Takeaway.com,” said Just Eat CEO Jitse Groen.

Will Amazon Prime Customers Still Get Grubhub Premium?

Interestingly, Wonder’s purchase of Grubhub led to some speculation on how it could affect Amazon customers. The CEO of Wonder, Marc Lore, is a former Walmart executive. At one point, he owned and operated the website Diapers.com, which was sold to Amazon in 2010. Amazon shut down the site sometime after.

Another retail site operated by Lore, Jet.com, was directly aimed to compete with Amazon. Walmart later acquired that site for $3.3 billion.

Amazon currently owns a stake in Grubhub, and as a result, current Prime members get Grubhub premium for free. Yet, despite the storied history between Lore and Amazon, it looks like members will still get the food delivery benefit. Wonder will acquire Amazon’s equity in Grubhub and plans to continue the offer for Prime customers.

As of April 2024, Grubhub only penetrated 8% of total food delivery consumer spending in the U.S., significantly lower than Uber Eats’ 23% and DoorDash’s 67%, per Bloomberg Second Measure. In 2023, the Grubhub app generated 237 million orders worth around $8.53 million, according to Just Eat.