News Alert: WAITR Serves Itself to Landcadia for $308 Million

Landcadia Holdings, Inc. and Waitr Announce Merger Agreement

Joint Investor Conference Call Scheduled for Tomorrow, Thursday, at 9:00 am ET

This afternoon, Landcadia, a $250 million SPAC, finally announced it had a definitive merger agreement with Waitr, a restaurant platform for online ordering and on-demand food delivery. Landcadia intends acquire Waitr for $308 million in total consideration in a cash and stock deal. Landcadia will pay a minimum of $50 million in cash to the equity holders of Waitr with the remainder paid in the combined company’s common stock.

For those unfamiliar with Landcadia, it is helmed by Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Houston Rockets as well as CEO and sole owner of Landry’s, Inc., one of the largest restaurant corporations in the U.S.  The SPAC IPO’d on May 26, 2016, and had 24 months to complete its business combination, so they’re really getting this one in under the wire. However, Landcadia will most certainly have to file for an extension to the deadline since it is impossible to file a proxy statement and set a record date ahead of the vote and then actually vote, all in the next two weeks.

Plus, a note of caution… historically, last minute business combinations do not have the best track record and the press release felt a little underwhelming. Having said that, Tilman Fertitta has tremendous experience in the dining and hospitality space. Don’t count this one out yet until there are more details.

We are looking forward to the investor conference call, scheduled for tomorrow 9:00 am EST. You can find the call-in details in the press release here.