Blue Apron to Be Acquired by Wonder Group
Pioneering meal kit company Blue Apron has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Wonder Group, a company founded by entrepreneur Marc Lore that aims to redefine at-home dining and food delivery.
Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Blue Apron’s board of directors, the company’s stockholders will receive $13 in cash per share of Class A common stock through a tender offer, representing an equity value of about $103 million. The per-share purchase price represents a 137% premium to the Sept. 28 closing price and a 77% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price of the Blue Apron’s Class A common stock.
By acquiring Blue Apron, Wonder aims to create a leading platform for mealtime, enabling choice, flexibility and convenience through the two brands. The merger is expected to enhance both companies’ abilities to deliver chef-curated meals with high-quality ingredients to more customers across the country. Following the transaction’s close, Wonder plans to continue Blue Apron’s current operations serving customers across the country under the Blue Apron brand, with expected new synergies between consumer-facing apps and delivery logistics to come.
“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,” noted Linda Findley, president and CEO of New York-based Blue Apron. “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,” noted Marc Lore, founder and CEO of Wonder, which has locations across the New York metropolitan area. “At-home meals play a key role in this vision and have been on our strategic roadmap since the beginning. When the opportunity presented itself to unite with Blue Apron, pioneers in the meal kit industry, we knew it would accelerate our strategic position, create immediate opportunities for synergy, and most importantly, enable us to further delight customers by expanding the ways you can access and experience Wonder. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Blue Apron to the Wonder platform and look forward to working with Linda and her exceptional team.”
Earlier in his career, Lore founded Jet.com and then went to work for Walmart in 2016, when the retailer bought the e-commerce site. He stuck around as Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce leader until 2021.
Following Blue Apron’s shift to an asset-light business upon the sale of its operational infrastructure and strategic partnership with FreshRealm, which will continue, the company received an offer from Wonder, which was considered as part of a strategic review process led by Blue Apron’s board of directors.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as exclusive financial advisor and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP is acting as legal counsel to Blue Apron, while Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is acting as exclusive financial advisor and Fenwick & West LLP is acting as legal counsel to Wonder.
Blue Apron will release its third-quarter 2023 results on Thursday, Nov. 9, but given the transaction, will not hold an earnings conference call or provide financial guidance.
Each week, approximately 230 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company as one of its Retailers of the Century.
