Just Eat Takeaway to wipe £5bn off Grubhub valuation - report

Just Eat Takeaway’s sale of Grubhub is reportedly under threat as bosses prepare for a multibillion-pound writedown on the US business.

According to The Times, bankers from Bank of America are working to find a buyer or strategic partner for the American food delivery operator, which Just Eat bought less than year ago for $7.3bn (£5.8bn).

However, sources said Grubhub was being offered to potential bidders at a fraction of that amid a global tech stock selloff, and that it may not find a buyer at all.

The Times cited multiple sources as saying that expectations for the sale had been slashed to as low as £1bn after it failed to drum up significant interest from any strategic buyers. A number of private equity firms are understood to have expressed an interest, but it is not known if there have been any serious approaches.

Just Eat Takeaway is looking to offload Grubhub after investors led by US activist Cat Rock Capital attacked the deal as the company struggled to compete with larger rivals UberEats and DoorDash.

A source told The Times: "I’d be amazed if this does get done now because I don’t know how management can credibly stand up and go ‘you know, we’ve paid billions of dollars for this asset and now we’re going to take a massive bath on it’."