Blue Apron acquired in $103 million deal
Blue Apron has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Wonder Group, a company founded by entrepreneur Marc Lore that is focused on at-home dining and food delivery.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Blue Apron’s board of directors, Blue Apron stockholders will receive $13 in cash per share of Class A common stock through a tender offer, representing an equity value of approximately $103 million. The per share purchase price represents a 137 percent premium to the Sept. 28 closing price and a 77 percent premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price of the Company’s Class A common stock.
Wonder’s acquisition of Blue Apron is expected to create a leading platform for mealtime, enhancing mealtime with choice, flexibility and convenience through two exceptional brands. The combination is expected to enhance both companies’ abilities to deliver chef-curated meals with high-quality ingredients to more customers across the country, solving for additional meal moments throughout the week. Following the close of this transaction, Wonder plans to continue Blue Apron’s current operations serving customers nationwide under the Blue Apron brand, with expected new synergies between consumer-facing apps and delivery logistics.
“By joining forces with Wonder, we continue to realize our vision of Better Living Through Better Food, and support how families and loved ones come together over food,” said Blue Apron President and CEO Linda Findley. “Wonder and Blue Apron deliver high-quality, chef-curated meals, making this a great match to offer more incredible mealtime experiences. The Blue Apron brand and products that our customers know and love will stay the same, with more opportunity for product expansion in the future. Further, the transaction delivers immediate and certain value for Blue Apron stockholders at a significant premium over recent trading prices.”
“Wonder is creating the mealtime super app, serving a broad range of occasions that feature cuisines from some of the world’s best chefs and restaurants while leveraging our culinary engineering and vertically-integrated model,” said Wonder Group Founder and CEO Marc Lore. “At-home meals play a key role in this vision and have been on our strategic roadmap since the beginning.”
