Breaking: Zomato acquires Urbanspoon in an all-cash deal to enter US
Zomato, the restaurant search app being built up from India has been one of the biggest newsmakers of 2014. Till now, Zomato has raised $113 million, it's latest round being of $60 million which took its valuation to $660 million. In an announced today, Zomato said that it has acquired Urbanspoon for an undisclosed amount in an all-cash deal (reports peg this amount to be at over $50 million). The acquisition marks Zomato's entry into the United States. This is Zomato's sixth acquisition in the last six months, and the biggest one. Zomato has recently acquired local dominant restaurant search players in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy.
This also establishes Zomato's presence in Australia and Canada, while adding to its already dominant position in United Kingdom and New Zealand. After the acquisition, Zomato will be present in 22 countries across the world. Its restaurant coverage will increase from about 300k restaurants to more than 1 million restaurants across the globe. Zomato's traffic will more than double from about 35 million visits per months to more than 80 million visits per month, probably making it the largest restaurant search company in the world. Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO of Zomato, said,
Our US entry has been in the cards for a while now, and we're delighted to be doing so by welcoming Urbanspoon into Zomato. They have a strong presence in the US and the UK, and they also dominate restaurant search in Australia and Canada.
Zomato will soon be integrating the two products to bring the best of both to users in the United States as well as the rest of the world.
The teams will be working closely over the coming months to integrate Urbanspoon into Zomato. In due course of time, all Urbanspoon traffic will move to Zomato.com, and all Urbanspoon app users will be able to use the Zomato app. Zomato believes that this acquisition also has a lot to offer to restaurant businesses- Zomato's hyperlocal advertising model, combined with the Zomato for Business app suite will allow restaurant businesses to reach out to, connect with, and engage customers.
"Zomato has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years, and our customer bases complement each other's perfectly," said Keela Robison, Urbanspoon CEO. "Zomato's significant investments in people and technology will bring Urbanspoon customers, restaurant owners, and food bloggers a number of new capabilities and features. We're excited to combine our strengths to accelerate growth."
