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Just Eat forks out over £260m to fuel domestic and overseas expansion

UK online food marketplace, Just Eat, has revealed a pair of multi-million pound global acquisitions that will help fuel its expansion overseas and further entrench its dominance in the UK.

The London-headquartered business has reached agreements to acquire hungryhouse from rival Delivery Hero and Canadian food marketplace SkipTheDishes, both of which will be funded primarily through the firm’s existing cash resources.

The acquisition of hungryhouse is perhaps the most eye-opening acquisition of the two, with a £200m deal serving to firmly cement the brand as the UK’s foremost online food delivery service.

Just Eat said that a further £40m would be payable dependent upon hungryhorse’s performance.

David Buttress, Chief Executive Officer of Just Eat plc said that the deal was part of the business’ strategy to complement its international growth with high growth domestically in the UK market.

He said: “While we have significantly expanded internationally in recent years, we have remained focused on building a high growth, sustainably profitable business domestically.

“Through this transaction, we would extend our market presence in the UK and sustain high levels of growth given the considerable opportunity in this market.”

In the second deal announced to the Stock Exchange this morning, Canadian firm SkipTheDishes, which is expected to reveal revenues of CAD$23.5m (approx. £14m) this year, has been acquired for CAD$110m (approx. £66.1m).

As one of the forerunners in the Canadian food delivery market, the agreement will further strengthen Just Eat’s number one position in what Buttress describes as a ‘fast-growing market’.

He commented: “The acquisition of SkipTheDishes will materially strengthen Just Eat’s number one position in Canada. Canada is a phenomenally exciting country for online food delivery, with significant runway for growth and a clear opportunity to drive channel shift.

“SkipTheDishes’ outstanding team, technological know-how and operational excellence has enabled it to develop a business model well-suited to Canada’s unique market conditions.”

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