Just Eat has sold its US business Grubhub to start-up food delivery company Wonder for $650m (£502.5m), a significant loss on the $7.3bn (£5.73bn) it paid for the firm four years ago.

The deal comes more than two years after Just Eat first indicated its intent to sell the US business, which floundered after the pandemic boom in rapid delivery services.

Just Eat’s share price has jumped almost 20% since news of the deal emerged.

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Just Eat founder and CEO Jitse Groen said the sale will “increase” the cash generation capabilities of the company and “accelerate” its growth.

“This deal delivers the right home for Grubhub and its employees. I would like to thank everyone at Grubhub for their contributions to both Grubhub and the wider Just Eat Takeaway.com business.”

Wonder founder and CEO Marc Lore added: “Wonder’s acquisition of Grubhub continues our mission to make great food more accessible.

“As we enhance our customer experience with selection, speed, and variety, we’re excited to soon offer a curated selection of Grubhub’s restaurant partners directly in the Wonder app, alongside our owned and operated restaurants and meal kits. Bringing Wonder and Grubhub together is the next step in our vision to create the super app for meal time, re-envisioning the future of food delivery.”

It comes as Just Eat continues to expand its reach in the UK, having most recently unveiled a tie-up with Waitrose in October as part of a multi-year deal to ramp up the upmarket retailer’s presence in the on-demand grocery and convenience sectors.