Takeaway.com, listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange, acquired 100% of Hello Hungry, the company behind the local market leader for online food delivery BGmenu, for € 10.5 M paid in cash.
Through the deal, Takeaway.com extends its presence in Eastern Europe as part of its expansion strategy. The deal also includes Hello Hungry’s Romanian business – Oliviera. The founders of BGmenu – the current majority shareholder V. Davchev and the Executive Director Z. Chugreeva – will manage the new business of Takeaway.com in the region. LAUNCHub Ventures Fund and the co-founder of Telerik and Telerik Academy, V. Terziev, are among the other shareholders in Hello Hungry.
To speed up the development of its business in Bulgaria, Takeaway.com is expected to make significant investments in the local market, with the amount not yet specified at this stage. Jitse Groen, CEO, and Founder of the company says Takeaway.com will apply the same strategy that has led to a rapid growth of the business in Poland with Pyszne.pl.
BGmenu is the leader in food delivery in Bulgaria by number of orders and, according to Davchev, adds 150 restaurants a month to its portfolio. In August 2017 BGmenu announced its merger with Lakom.bg, which turned it into the largest platform on the market in the region. Davchev and Chugreeva are planning to continue the development of the company and see in the next 1-2 years a three-fold increase of the current team of 62 that includes marketing, sales, IT and other corporate functions (excluding couriers). The revenues of the Bulgarian company increased by more than 120% to BGN 1.23 M (€ 0.6 M) for FY 2016, but it continues to record annual losses due to investments made in the expansion of the platform. The Romanian business is growing fast as well.
Takeaway.com was founded in 2000. In 2016 it was listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam and, at present, has a market capitalization of over € 2 Bn. The company is among the leading online food delivery websites in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Vietnam. The company connects consumers and restaurants through its platform and supports with delivery. Featuring more than 31,000 restaurants, Takeaway.com offers consumers a great variety of food products. It also offers supply services to restaurants in 24 European cities in 6 countries. In the 12 months ending on June 30, 2017, Takeaway.com had processed nearly 59 M orders from 10.2 M unique users. With more than 900 employees, the group fulfilled orders worth € 1.126 Bn and generated revenues of € 139 M. The company is operating in the red due to its continuing expansion and investments in marketing.
This is the second attempt for Hello Hungry to strike a deal with a foreign investor. In 2015, the company sold a 13.4% share to Yemek Sepeti, the market leader in Turkey and some Arab countries. Subsequently, Yemek Sepeti was acquired by the German Delivery Hero, which sold its stake to Foodpanda, the owner of Foodpanda Bulgaria, one of BGmenu’s main competitors. After lengthy merger talks, Hello Hungry eventually decided to continue as an independent company backed by a new round of funding from LAUNCHUb Ventures, as well as individual investors like Mr. Terziev.
The deal for Hello Hungry is the first big exit for LAUNCHub Ventures, which sold its stake of approx. 24%.
