Just-Eat Moves into France with Alloresto Joint Venture

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just-Eat, the world’s largest online takeaway service, has announced that it will be undertaking a joint venture with Alloresto, the leading French online food delivery provider. The deal consolidates Just-Eat’s position as the world’s leading online service for takeaway restaurants and gives it access to local knowledge and expertise as it enters the French market for the first time.

“This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for Alloresto and Just-Eat. By working with the industry’s biggest player, we will benefit from working with a highly experienced team with the technological expertise to help the business develop in France and continue our clear leadership of the local market.”

The deal will have founder Sebastien Forest remain with the company as managing director for France. Founded in 1998, Alloresto can lay claim to being the first European online takeaway service, and currently partners with over 2,500 restaurants across France. As part of the deal, Just-Eat will be investing 20 million euros in the partnership over the next three years.

Forest said “This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for Alloresto and Just-Eat. By working with the industry’s biggest player, we will benefit from working with a highly experienced team with the technological expertise to help the business develop in France and continue our clear leadership of the local market.”

Klaus Nyengaard, CEO of Just-Eat, said “The online takeaway market in France has huge potential, and Alloresto is clearly the market leader. As we look to expand into new geographies and grow Just-Eat, tapping into local expertise and knowledge is absolutely critical to ensure success. Sebastien and his team have built a strong brand with loyal customers, and we’re delighted to be partnering with them.”

The Alloresto partnership follows a period of intense expansion by Just-Eat, which saw the company make seven acquisitions in 2011, in the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Brazil, Canada and India. This rapid growth has been supported by a $48 million round of VC funding in March, and the appointment of John Hughes as Chairman.

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About the Just-Eat Group

Just-Eat, launched in Denmark in 2001, is based in London and is now active in 16 countries around the globe. Just-Eat delivers over 100,000 meals a day and has received more than 30m orders since the site launched. There are currently over 20,000 takeaway restaurants signed up to Just-Eat’s site which uses proprietary technology to offer an efficient on-line ordering service. Just-Eat is currently generating over $500m in revenue per year for the restaurant industry and was listed in the TechCrunch Europe Top 100 Index 2010. Just-Eat was also recently ranked number 28 in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100.

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