HelloFresh to pick up beleaguered Youfoodz

Dean Blake

13th Jul 2021

Youfoodz is set to exit the ASX less than a year after listing after accepting a $0.93 per share takeover bid from HelloFresh – a 109 per cent premium on the past month’s average trading.

The bid values Youfoodz at approximately $125.3 million and will push HelloFresh into the pre-made meals market – a segment of the food delivery pie it hadn’t yet picked up.

“The transaction combines Youfoodz’s strength in developing and manufacturing delicious ready-made meals with HelloFresh’s expertise in supply chain management, technology and direct-to-consumer marketing,” Youfoodz said in its statement to shareholders.

“Both companies are unified in their purpose to provide Australians with delicious, high quality and affordable fresh meals.”

Youfoodz’ board unanimously recommends its shareholders back the scheme, which will be voted on in October following an independent expert review.

The ready-made meals brand launched its IPO last October at $1.50 a share, where it raised $70 million to list, and landed at a market capitalisation of just over $200 million, according to the AFR.

However, the business struggled to hit the financial benchmarks it set itself, with EBITDA and revenue landing below expectations earlier this year.

Local HelloFresh CEO Tom Rutledge said the business is excited to welcome Youfoodz to the fold, and the buy-up is part of HelloFresh’s plan to become a leading global D2C food solutions group.

“We are impressed by Youfoodz’ strong product and manufacturing capabilities and are looking forward to jointly delight Australians with delicious, healthy and convenient meals,” said Rutledge.

“Youfoodz ‘complementary product and capability backed by a well known brand and highly capable team will allow us to serve more meal occasions to more people. We look forward to being able to contribute our expertise to jointly capitalise on a strong growth opportunity.”