New Delhi: Online food delivery market place Foodpanda said on Friday that is has acquired food ordering portal Just Eat India in all stock deal as it seeks to strengthen its presence in India.
This is one of seven food delivery startups Foodpanda bought across Asia on Thursday. Rocket Internet, which has built several start-ups and went public last year, announced moves that would lead to major consolidation in the food delivery business across several countries. The company has acquired a 30 per cent stake in Delivery Hero, a rival of Foodpanda, for $586 million.
The purchase is the second in four months by the company, which in November acquired food delivery business TastyKhana.in for an undisclosed amount.
The latest deal comes in at a time when restaurant search portal Zomato is looking to enter the online food ordering space in India. “We have a very clear focus of being the largest player in every country that we operate in. Though we were already a dominant player, this will further help consolidate our position as a leader,” Rohit Chadda, co-founder and managing director at Foodpanda, said.
According to Chadda, the two companies will continue to operate independently and the Just Eat brand will continue to exist separately. He does not rule out an integration of the two platforms going forward. “I can't rule it out and we will take a decision in due course of time. As of today, we will keep the brands and teams separate,” he added. Just Eat Plc. was launched in Denmark in 2001 and was traded publicly on the London Stock Exchange. It entered India by acquiring a majority stake in Hungry in Bengaluru in 2011. Hungry was launched in 2006. Today, the company partners with more than 2,000 restaurants.
Oliver Samwer, CEO of Rocket Internet, said Global Online Takeway Group processes around 78 million orders a year from 140,000 restaurants across 64 countries.
According to Chadda, the online food ordering business in India is in its nascent stage. “Share of online food ordering would be in single digits of the overall food ordering business which in 2014 was estimated to be around Rs.5,000-6,000 crore. We are growing at 20-30% month-on-month,” he added.
