Grubhub Co-Founder Reportedly Wanted to Buy It Back

Grubhub co-founder Matt Maloney might want to buy the company back after selling it to Just Eat Takeaway in 2021, a Seeking Alpha report says.

He sold it for $7.3 billion at the time.

Now, he’s reportedly working with private equity firm General Atlantic to consider buying the company back.

While he didn’t want to buy the company earlier this year, Just Eat Takeaway’s shares have fallen 60%, which could change his mind.

Recent news has said Just Eat Takeaway may have to write down $6.3 billion from the sale of Grubhub, which could potentially sell for as low as £1 billion. The price may dip because the company didn’t get significant interest from strategic buyers.

Just Eat Takeaway has said it’s “actively working with advisers” on finding a way to sell Grubhub, and investor Cat Rock Capital said the sale would be a prudent move.

PYMNTS wrote that Just Eat Takeaway could take a multibillion hit to offload the delivery company.

See more: Just Eat Takeaway Mulls Multibillion Hit to Unload Grubhub

The report said it’s possible no buyer could come forward – even with the massively dropped price.

The price drop happened because Just Eat Takeaway wanted to add enticement for buyers, with several buyers reportedly thinking about taking the deal. But it’s unknown if any serious buyers were interested.

The reason for the possible sale comes as CEO Jitse Groen said it wanted to focus on “enhancing profitability and strengthening our business.” But initially, Just Eat Takeaway wanted to hold onto Grubhub, denying that it wanted to sell the platform and saying the delisting of its shares from Nasdaq didn’t mean it’d sell Grubhub.

An unnamed source said they’d be “amazed if this does get done now,” because “I don’t know how management can credibly stand up and go ‘you know, we’ve paid billions of dollars for this asset and now we’re going to take a massive bath on it.’”