GrubHub raises anticipated size of IPO to $177.9M

NEW YORK - Online delivery company GrubHub plans to raise up to approximately $177.9 million from its initial public offering, increasing the offering's expected size from $100 million a month ago.

GrubHub also disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday that it anticipates selling about 7 million shares in the IPO, priced between $20 and $22 per share. The underwriters have the option to buy up to an additional 1.1 million shares. The company's filing in February did not include such details.

The company was founded in 2004, making its name catering to college students and through its quirky social media activities. In August it completed a combination with rival Seamless for an undisclosed amount. Its other brands include MenuPages and Allmenus.

The Chicago company, formerly known as GrubHub Seamless Inc., connects more than 28,000 restaurants with diners in more than 600 U.S. cities. It had 3.4 million active diners at the end of the year. An active diner is considered a diner account that has placed an order in the last year.

Companies like GrubHub contract with restaurants, mostly in large metropolitan areas, and allow customers to shop online by food type, cuisine, or restaurant name to find what they want and have it delivered or prepared before pickup.

The service frees restaurants from some of the labor-intensive order taking and allows consumers to quickly shop, compare and pay without picking up a phone.

But there is intense competition in the marketplace, in part because restaurants don't have to commit to offering online ordering through just one company. Restaurants pay a percentage of each order to the online delivery service.

GrubHub processed more than 135,000 combined daily average orders in 2013. The company's 2013 revenue totaled $137.1 million, up 67 percent from the previous year's $82.3 million.

GrubHub said in its Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is offering 4 million shares while selling stockholders are offering about 3 million shares. GrubHub won't receive any proceeds from shares sold by the selling stockholders.

The company plans to use the offering's proceeds for working capital and other general corporate purposes. It may also use part of the proceeds to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, products, services, technologies or other assets.

GrubHub's stock is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the "GRUB" ticker symbol.