Just Eat, the UK-based online takeaway platform, has announced the merger of its Brazilian business RestauranteWeb with iFood, a rival in that country.
This merger creates IF-JE Participações Ltda, a joint venture between Just Eat and iFood’s existing shareholders.
As part of the agreement, Just Eat will make an investment of £3.5m in cash into IF-JE for future business expansion. Following the transaction, IF-JE will be 25% owned by Just Eat, 24.98% owned by the iFood founders and 50.02% owned by Movile, the technology developer that had invested iFood.
David Buttress, chief executive of Just Eat, said: “We are delighted to have secured another clear leading position in Just Eat’s portfolio. Brazil is a large and fast growing market and is an important part of our long-term growth strategy. The iFood founders and Movile have together built a great business and the combination with RestauranteWeb will create the clear market winner in this exciting market.”
Patrick Sigrist, founder and chairman of iFood, commented: “It’s an honour to finally, after eight years knowing each other, be able to merge and work together. Just Eat was an inspiration to me when founding iFood and today I’m glad we are part of the same company, merging the best of a regional management with the experience of the global leader.
“We’ve worked so hard to achieve this transaction, which will certainly be a game changer in the Brazilian food delivery market.”
Felipe Ramos Fioravante, founder and chief executive of iFood, said: “We are excited to be able to partner with Just Eat. Their management’s experience in building the global leader in online delivery food will be invaluable as we expand our service to more restaurants and more hungry consumers across Brazil.”
