The founder of Grubhub teamed up with US private equity giant General Atlantic in an audacious attempt to buy back the company he sold to Just Eat Takeaway for $7.3 billion last year, it can be revealed.
Matt Maloney, who co-founded the takeaway firm in Chicago in 2004, is understood to have been working with the TikTok-investor earlier this year on taking back control of Grubhub. Sources said they had ultimately decided against making a bid. However, Just Eat Takeaway shares have plunged since then, raising the prospect of a return.
Just Eat Takeaway, formed in 2020 through the merger of the UK’s Just Eat and Dutch rival Takeaway.com, completed the all-share deal to buy Grubhub in June last year. But after pressure from investors to offload it and simplify the company — and after receiving unsolicited takeover approaches — Just Eat Takeaway said in April it was “actively exploring the introduction of a strategic partner and/or a partial or full sale of Grubhub”.
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