Executives from Walmart and at least three other grocers have mulled acquiring food-delivery service Grubhub, The Post has learned.
Insiders at Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and Ahold-Delhaize, the owner of Hannaford and Stop & Shop, have been reviewing how buying the Chicago company could help them with food delivery and groceries, according to ex-Amazon executive and supply-chain consultant Brittain Ladd.
“I have spoken with executives from each company (especially Walmart) and there is interest in acquiring Grubhub,” Ladd told The Post in an email. “I believe the value of Grubhub to Walmart is that they could leverage Grubhub for delivering food and groceries,” said Ladd, who says he spoke with Walmart insiders about buying Grubhub as recently as last month.
On Wednesday, Grubhub’s stock closed up 12.5 percent to $54.75 a share on a Wall Street Journal report that said Grubhub has tapped advisors to help it review its strategic options, including a sale.
But the company, which owns food delivery company Seamless, has been on the auction block for months with no bidders, The Post reported Wednesday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the sale.
The dearth of bidders comes as Grubhub faces an onslaught of competition, including from tech giants Google and Uber, that have hammered sales.
In October, the company’s stock dropped 43 percent after company warned of an abrupt decline in third-quarter orders due to “promiscuous” diners flip-flopping between their growing food-ordering options.
“Acquiring GrubHub checks a couple of boxes for Walmart,” agreed DA Davidson analyst, Tom Forte. “I’ve long thought that Grubhub could apply its expertise beyond restaurants to grocery.”
GrubHub declined to comment for this story and Walmart could not immediately be reached for comment.