Just Eat Takeaway to acquire Grubhub for $7.3B
Genuine question: why?I completely understand acquisitions that create value by providing economies of scale, monopoly power or network benefits, or diversify or complement a company's activities.But for a European market leader to buy an American market leader in what is ultimately an extremely local business... I see no real added benefit here.Few further economies of scale when you're already at continent-size for an ultimately "local" business, no monopoly or network benefits, and zero diversification.If this were manufacturing or retail then benefits are pretty obvious.But in this case, what am I missing? How on earth does this justify a 27 percent premium on GrubHub? It is purely a strategic defensive move to prevent Uber from buying it, and nothing more?