Just Eat gets green light to buy food delivery rival Hungryhouse

The competition watchdog rubber stamps the £240m takeover and says HungryHouse is far too small to offer competition

Food delivery firms such as Deliveroo, UberEATS and Amazon will provide stiff competition for Just Eat

Just Eat's takeover of rival Hungryhouse has been officially given the green light by the competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled in its final decision that the deal - worth up to £240m - does not raise competition concerns, given the rise of new entrants such as Deliveroo, UberEATS and Amazon.

It rubber-stamped a provisional decision last month to give the deal the go-ahead.

Just Eat welcomed the announcement and said it now expects to complete the takeover on 31 January.

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."

The CMA said Hungryhouse offers little competition to Just Eat as it is far smaller and offers too few unique restaurants.

This would make it increasingly difficult for Hungryhouse to attract and retain customers and added that newer, bigger rivals posed more of a threat.

The CMA also said competition concerns were eased, given that customers can order directly from takeaway restaurants, either by telephone, through their websites or by walking in.

Just Eat and Hungryhouse offer online takeaway ordering services which allow restaurants to offer customers the convenience of choosing from a large range of providers in one place.

Just Eat agreed to pay £200m to Delivery Hero for Hungryhouse and will shell out another £40m, depending on performance.

The deal came as part of a spree by Just Eat as it looks to expand, with the group also announcing the acquisition of Canadian firm SkipTheDishes alongside the Hungryhouse takeover.

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