Just Eat, a global GrubHub, IPOs at $2.45B

JUST EAT, an online food ordering/food delivery service comparable to GrubHub, saw its share price briefly rise more than 10 percent on its opening day of trading in the London Stock Exchange.

The IPO listed the shares at 260 pence, giving the company a value of £1.47 billion ($2.45 billion). Shares peaked just below £3 at 297.96 pence before finishing the day up 8.85 percent at 283 pence.

This left JUST EAT finishing its first day of trading valued £1.59 billion, over one hundred times their underlying earnings of £14.1 million.

JUST EAT will receive £100 million from the flotation, with the rest going to its investors.

David Buttress, chief executive of JUST EAT said, “I believe that investors have recognized our track record of strong growth and that we have a strong platform for future growth.”

JUST EAT was the first firm to float on the London Stock Exchange’s hotly anticipated High Growth segment.

The new segment allows companies to issue as little as 10 percent of the shares when they float instead of the normal minimum quantity of 25 percent.

The takeout company expects a free float of 24.6 percent. As a result, it is unlikely that it will stay on the High Growth Segment for long.

Its successful IPO will offer encouragement to other companies considering floating on the new segment of the London market.

This story originally appeared on TechCityNews. Copyright 2014