Just Eat and Hungryhouse - Takeover Cleared

A great competition policy applied example! The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Just Eat’s acquisition of Hungryhouse, following an in-depth investigation. They refer to the fast-changing nature of competition in the industry notably the emergence of new (and scaled) players in the sector such as Deliveroo, UberEATS and Amazon.

Analysts UBS estimate that the market size of the restaurant delivery segment in 2016 was £5.8bn and expect this to rise to £6.7bn in 2020.

UBS estimate that of the £5.8bn market, some £2.7bn is currently ordered online.

Just Eat has made several acquisitions in the UK since 2006, including Fillmybelly Limited in 2012, which was at the time the UK’s third largest online takeaway ordering service, and Nifty Nosh Limited, a Northern Ireland based business.

Uber launched its UberEATS service in central London in June 2016 and as at June 2017 operated in 14 cities and towns in the UK (Source: CMA)