Zomato forays into US market with $60-mn Urbanspoon buy

Online restaurant guide Zomato has forayed into the US market by acquiring restaurant information and recommendation service provider Urbanspoon for estimated  $60 million in an all-cash deal.

The acquisition marks Zomato's entry into the United States and also establishes it's presence in Australia and Canada.

It also adds to the company's already dominant position in United Kingdom and New Zealand, Zomato said in a statement.

Commenting on the development, Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said: "Our US entry has been in the cards for a while now, and we're delighted to be doing so by welcoming Urbanspoon into Zomato."

The teams will be working closely over the coming months to integrate Urbanspoon into Zomato.

In due course of time, all Urbanspoon traffic will move to Zomato.com, and all Urbanspoon app users will be able to use the Zomato app, Zomato said.

"We will soon be integrating the two products to bring the best of both products to our users in the United States as well as the rest of the world," Goyal said.

The company did not reveal the acquisition size. However, sources said the deal size is about $60 million.

This is company's sixth acquisition in the last six months, and the biggest one.

It had recently acquired local restaurant search players in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy, Zomato said. "Zomato's significant investments in people and technology will bring Urbanspoon customers, restaurant owners, and food bloggers a number of new capabilities and features.

We're excited to combine our strengths to accelerate growth," Urbanspoon CEO Keela Robison said. Post acquisition, the company will be present in 22 countries across the world and its traffic will more than double from about 35 million visits per months to more than 80 million visits per month, Zomato said.