Just Eat share price inches up as competition watchdog clears takeover of Hungryhouse

Just Eat’s takeover of Hungryhouse has been officially cleared to go ahead by the competition regulator.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said today that a group of independent panel members found that the merger does not raise competition concerns.

In the CMA’s provisional findings, published last month, it stated that Hungryhouse presently provides limited competition to Just Eat because it is much smaller in size and offers too few unique restaurants.

Furthermore, the CMA said today: “The industry is evolving rapidly following the entry of platforms such as Deliveroo, UberEATS and Amazon, which also manage or facilitate delivery services on behalf of restaurants. These companies generally present a greater competitive challenge to Just Eat than Hungryhouse, and this is likely to grow as they expand.

“In reaching its final conclusion, the group also took account of the fact that some customers may order directly from takeaway restaurants, either by telephone, through their websites or by walking in.”

Andrew Griffith, interim chairman of Just Eat, said: ”The combination with Hungryhouse will enable us to bring benefits to even more independent restaurants, while improving the service and breadth of choice that we offer consumers.

“We are therefore pleased with the CMA’s decision and look forward to bringing Hungryhouse into the Just Eat family. I would like to thank all the Just Eat team for their hard work in concluding the process with the CMA over the past year.”

The takeover process began last December, when Just Eat announced it was buying Hungryhouse and Canadian firm SkipTheDishes.

Just Eat said today that it expects the transaction to complete on 31 January 2018.