On behalf of Lugard Road Capital Master Fund, Luxor Capital Group entered into a debt commitment letter to provide $42.1 million in senior secured first priority term loans to Waitr, an online ordering and food delivery platform.
Part of the proceeds of the term loans will be used to finance a portion of Waitr’s acquisition of Bite Squad, an online restaurant food delivery service, for an aggregate amount of approximately $321.3 million. The rest of the funds will be used for general corporate purposes.
Founded in 2012 and based in Minneapolis, Bite Squad operates a three-sided marketplace, which connects more than 11,000 active restaurants with approximately 6,300 W-2 drivers and approximately 889,000 active diners.
“We have followed Bite Squad’s growth and success for many years and believe their mission, business model and growth profile share many similarities to Waitr,” said Chris Meaux, founder and CEO of Waitr. “We believe that a small fraction of the U.S. restaurant industry’s sales are from off-premise online transactions and this is evolving rapidly. This acquisition will help us drive additional growth and provide a step function increase in scale throughout the U.S. in order to better serve that developing market.”
“We are thrilled to join forces with the Waitr team,” said Kian Salehi, co-founder and CEO of Bite Squad. “I believe Chris and his team share our vision for providing hungry diners with a convenient and fast way to enjoy great food from the best local restaurants and chains.”
Bite Squad has a high growth business model, with 85% year-over-year gross food sales growth and 98% year-over-year revenue growth in Q3 2018.
The merger will significantly expand Waitr’s scale and footprint across the U.S., serving a total of over 86 markets in more than 500 cities and 22 states.
The acquisition is expected to close by the end of January 2019.
Winston & Strawn is serving as legal counsel and Jefferies as financial advisor to Waitr in connection with the acquisition. Gray, Plant, Mooty & Bennett is serving as legal counsel and RBC Capital Markets as financial advisor to Bite Squad.
