Just Eat gorges on Hungry House and SkipTheDishes in binge spree

Just Eat has gobbled up rivals Hungry House and Canadian firm SkipTheDishes as part of an acquisition spree, forking out over £260 million in the process.

The group will pay £200 million to Delivery Hero for Hungry House and £66.1 million for SkipTheDishes as the firm ramps up expansion in the UK and North America.

Just Eat will shell out another £40 million, depending on the performance of Hungry House.

Chief executive David Buttress said: "The UK has long been an engine of growth for Just Eat. While we have significantly expanded internationally in recent years, we have remained focused on building a high growth, sustainably profitable business domestically.

"Through this transaction, we would extend our market presence in the UK and sustain high levels of growth given the considerable opportunity in this market."

Hungry House is expected to bring in earnings of £12 million to £15 million.

Mr Buttress added that the acquisition of SkipTheDishes will "materially strengthen Just Eat's number one position in Canada".

London-based Just Eat has more than 16.6 million customers and offers deliveries from 63,900 takeaway restaurants in over 10 countries.

David Reynolds, analyst at Jefferies, expects the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to probe the Hungry House deal.

He said: "Whilst it may be some time before the CMA bless this deal, the strategic imperative for Just Eat makes sense.

"Intuitively, we are positive on the transaction, consolidation is a good thing in online marketplace models whatever the vertical, this deal not only consolidates the UK effectively, it also removes the possibility of a more radical combination for Hungry House, with Deliveroo for example, that may have been perceived as a threat to Just Eat's UK competitive position."