The food delivery company Just Eat Takeaway is selling Grubhub to the delivery-focused restaurant chain Wonder for $650m (£510m), only four years after buying the US app in a multibillion-dollar tie-up after the first Covid lockdowns.

The Netherlands-based Just Eat, which is Europe’s largest meal delivery company, had been looking to offload its US unit since as early as 2022, as the pandemic-fuelled boost to online food shopping faded and it grappled with tough competition.

Wonder is a New York-based chain of fast casual restaurants, led by the former Walmart executive and serial entrepreneur Marc Lore.

Just Eat bought Grubhub in a $7.3bn deal agreed in June 2020, which was intended to create the world’s largest food delivery service outside China. The tie-up was aimed at giving Just Eat access to the lucrative US food delivery market, with the combined business able to serve customers in 25 countries.

Just Eat reportedly beat Uber to a deal, as the tech company also held talks with Grubhub as the food delivery sector boomed during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Just Eat executives came under pressure from investors after the boost from pandemic-era food deliveries began to subside as economies reopened after pandemic lockdowns, and its shares began to slide. Just Eat shares are trading about 90% lower than at their peak, reached in October 2020.

Jitse Groen, the chief executive of Just Eat Takeaway.com, said: “The sale of Grubhub to Wonder will increase the cash generation capabilities of Just Eat Takeaway.com and will accelerate our growth.

“This deal delivers the right home for Grubhub and its employees.”

Just Eat, which listed on stock markets in London and Amsterdam, and other food delivery apps have struggled in the past few years with fee caps put in place by New York and several other US cities, designed to limit the rate of commission charged by food delivery services.

Wonder operates 28 fast casual restaurants, mostly around New York City and New Jersey, offering diners a range of global cuisine.

Led by Lore, who has been called the “LeBron James of e-commerce” in tribute to the basketball star’s business acumen, the company plans to open 100 locations by early 2026.

“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,” Lore said.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, provided it receives the usual regulatory approvals, and Just Eat said it would retain no material liabilities associated with Grubhub.