Grubhub Chief Says He’s Open To Deals

The CEO of GrubHub Matt Maloney has denied rumors that the company is looking to sell, but he did say he was open to a merger, although there are no current offers on the table, according to the New York Post.

When The Wall Street Journal reported about two weeks ago that Grubhub was potentially looking to sell, the company’s stock price spiked 17 percent. There was interest from major grocers, including Walmart. However, the company shot down the rumors and its stock price fell 8 percent. Maloney said reporters were “barking up the wrong tree.”

Maloney said he thinks the food delivery space should consolidate this year, but that he hasn’t received any acquisition offers for Grubhub.

While Grubhub and DoorDash are the biggest companies in the space, competitors like Postmates, Uber Eats and Google are also vying for market space.

“There’s a reckoning coming to the industry,” Maloney told CNBC.

Uber recently sold its India delivery business to Zomato and got a 10 percent stake in the company.

In other news, Grubhub recently launched its “Ultimate” workflow system to help with order-ahead. “Diners have come to expect ordering ahead for pickup to breeze through busy rush hour crowds and grab their morning coffee or lunch, but currently they can only enjoy this convenience at large QSRs [quick-service restaurants],” Maloney said. “Ultimate now gives restaurants of any size the ability to please diners with an easy, digital pickup experience.”

The Ultimate technology is made up of four components. There’s a heads-up customer display that shows order estimates in real time, a POS that directly integrates in the Grubhub apps, a kitchen display system and an in-store self-ordering kiosk.