Wonder buys Grubhub for $650 million
The delivery-focused restaurant company founded by former Walmart executive Marc Lore is expanding in a big way.
Wonder, which operates similar to a delivery food hall, will acquire on-demand delivery platform Grubhub from Netherlands-based global online delivery conglomerate JustEatTakeaway.com. The deal is valued at $650 million, including $500 million of senior notes and $150 million cash.
“As we enhance our customer experience with selection, speed, and variety, we're excited to soon offer a curated selection of Grubhub's restaurant partners directly in the Wonder app, alongside our owned and operated restaurants and meal kits," said Lore. "Bringing Wonder and Grubhub together is the next step in our vision to create the super app for meal time, re-envisioning the future of food delivery."
In addition, Wonder has raised an additional $250 million in capital exclusively from new investors to further its growth.
Wonder - a brief history
Marc Lore is credited with transforming Walmart’s e-commerce operations and served as president and CEO of Walmart U.S. e-commerce from 2016 to January of 2021. He founded Wonder Group and committed himself full-time to the business in December of 2021.
Since then, Wonder has raised at least another $700 million in capital and announced plans to grow from its current base of 28 locations to 35 by the end of 2024 and 90 by the end of 2025, focusing on communities throughout the Northeast.
[READ MORE: Marc Lore-led food startup raises $700M; plans 90 stores by 2025]
In January 2023, Wonder abandoned its previous mobile food truck focus and pivoted to an operating strategy reminiscent of the ghost kitchen model, operating kitchens that offer delivery and in-location dining and pickup. Wonder customers can choose items from menus curated by various celebrity chefs such as José Andrés, Michael Symon and Bobby Flay. The menus feature different types of cuisines, allowing customers, for example, to order Mexican and Italian food in the same order.
Wonder also plans to “aggressively invest” in research and development, according to Lore, focusing on areas including faster cook times, software enhancements, new menu items, new chefs and new restaurant partnerships.
Lore said the company will also continue to invest in proprietary technology to drive operational efficiencies, including back-end technology focused on driving down food waste; next-gen kitchen designs to improve throughput and consistency, and an enhanced delivery network.
According to Wonder, integrating Grubhub with Wonder is the next step in Wonder's mission to "make great food more accessible" by combining first-party and third-party restaurants, groceries and meal kits in a single app order. Currently, Wonder customers can order from more than 30 restaurants in a single order, with each item being made-to-order in a sequenced fashion so that they finish simultaneously and delivered to the customer together.
All Wonder brick-and-mortar locations will be available on Grubhub for third-party delivery. Grubhub also offers Wonder its delivery partnerships with non-food-oriented retailers, such as Office Depot and Petsmart, as well as a campus dining business that enables online ordering at more than 360 universities and a corporate accounts business that provides flexible meal perks platforms for more than 10,000 companies.
“As we enhance our customer experience with selection, speed, and variety, we're excited to soon offer a curated selection of Grubhub's restaurant partners directly in the Wonder app, alongside our owned and operated restaurants and meal kits. Bringing Wonder and Grubhub together is the next step in our vision to create the super app for meal time, re-envisioning the future of food delivery."
Grubhub partners with a total of more than 375,000 retailers in more than 4,000 U.S. cities. In other recent developments at Wonder, Tony Hoggett, who ran Amazon’s global omnichannel grocery operation from January 2022 to October 2024 and was instrumental in efforts such as expansion of the Amazon Fresh high-tech grocery chain, left Amazon to join Wonder as its COO.
"I am incredibly excited for Grubhub to join forces with Wonder and bring more value to our diners, merchants and delivery partners," said Howard Migdal, Grubhub CEO. "Since our earliest days, Grubhub has helped restaurants open their doors to new customers, while introducing diners to new cuisines. That's why I'm confident that Grubhub will complement Wonder's mission to make great food more accessible and that together we will create remarkable dining experiences for more customers across the country."
Jefferies served as Wonder's exclusive financial advisor on the transaction.
