JUST EAT plc (LSE: JE), the world’s leading digital marketplace for takeaway food delivery, is pleased to announce that it has completed the sale of hellofood Brazil to IF-JE1, its Brazil joint venture, as previously contemplated.
JUST EAT has also sold to IF-JE a 49% stake in its enlarged Mexico business, formed of SinDelantal, acquired in February 2015, and hellofood Mexico, acquired in February 2016. JUST EAT will retain a 51% stake in the enlarged Mexico business, or 65.7% on a look-through basis2.
The transfer of hellofood Brazil reinforces the existing strong position of IF-JE in the Brazilian online takeaway delivery market. In Mexico, creating a joint venture under local IF-JE management leverages Latin American know-how and scale to establish the business as the market-leader across the two most important markets for online takeaway in the region.
David Buttress, CEO of JUST EAT, said: “The iFood joint venture in Brazil has been a huge success for JUST EAT and has enjoyed impressive growth since it launched in 2014, thanks to its intimate understanding of local markets and strong track record of executing against its strategy.
“These transactions with iFood will create additional volume and scale that will generate significant benefits in these markets. They will provide the perfect platform for iFood to expand further in the largest and most exciting markets in Latin America, creating real value for JUST EAT and its shareholders.”
The total net cash consideration received by JUST EAT for the transactions is approximately US$11 million. In addition, JUST EAT will receive benefit of services provided by local IF-JE management in Mexico.