Addition of Nowait Pairs the Nation’s Largest Consumer Platform for
Restaurant Search with the Industry’s Top Waitlist Service
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 1, 2017--
Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP),
the company that connects consumers with great local businesses, today
announced it has acquired Nowait, a restaurant technology company with
the industry’s leading waitlist system and seating tool. Previously, the
company announced a strategic investment in Nowait and integrated its
waitlist experience into the Yelp app, enabling restaurants to share
real-time seating availability and providing an easy way for hungry
diners to get in line remotely. Nowait is the perfect complement to
booking tables with Yelp Reservations and ordering food for pickup and
delivery through Yelp Eat24.
Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nowait was founded in 2010 as the
first mobile network for waitlist restaurants that enables users to
discover real-time seating availability and remotely add their name to
the waitlist. With Nowait integrated into Yelp, diners can move directly
from their restaurant search to getting in line via the app, all within
a few taps. The service also supports real-time communication between
the restaurant and the customer. Nowait is live at about 4,000
restaurants across the United States and Canada with the ability to
offer waitlist functionality and front of the house management to casual
dining establishments. According to Statista, 54% of Americans have
eaten in a casual dining restaurant monthly, three times the percentage
who have eaten at fine dining restaurants.
The Nowait system replaces paper lists or handheld buzzers with a simple
experience delivered via smart phone, helping to drive more business for
busy restaurants while meeting the needs of time strapped diners.
"Yelp already plays a big role in millions of purchase decisions every
day as consumers actively seek out businesses and services that save
them time and money. The full integration of Nowait allows us to provide
real-time seating availability that better equips diners to make
informed decisions," said Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp co-founder and chief
executive officer. "Nowait has quickly become an important feature for
Yelp users and a valuable addition to our overall restaurant offerings.
With this acquisition, we’ll make even bigger strides in the restaurant
industry by allowing Yelp users to more quickly move from search and
discovery to transacting at a local business."
"We’ve had a successful partnership and we’re excited to align fully
with Yelp to drive even faster adoption. Together we’ll have the leading
waitlist system in the restaurant industry paired with the largest
engaged consumer base," said Ware Sykes, Nowait’s chief executive
officer.
Acquisition Details
The $40 million acquisition of the entirety of Nowait will be paid in
cash, and includes the partial stake which Yelp acquired previously. The
transaction, which was approved by the boards of directors of both
companies, closed on February 28, 2017 and the purchase price will be
reflected in Yelp's first quarter 2017 financial statements.
About Yelp
Yelp Inc. (http://www.yelp.com)
connects people with great local businesses. Yelp was founded in San
Francisco in July 2004. Since then, Yelp has taken root in major metros
in more than 30 countries. Approximately 24 million unique devices1
accessed Yelp via the Yelp app, approximately 73 million unique visitors
visited Yelp via desktop computer2 and approximately 65
million unique visitors visited Yelp via mobile website3 on a
monthly average basis during the fourth quarter of 2016. By the end of
the same quarter, Yelpers had written approximately 121 million rich,
local reviews, making Yelp the leading local guide for real
word-of-mouth on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants
and dentists.
1 Calculated as the number of unique devices accessing the
app on a monthly average basis over a given three-month period,
according to internal Yelp logs.
2 Calculated as the number of “users,” as measured by Google
Analytics, accessing Yelp via desktop computer on a monthly average
basis over a given three-month period.
3 Calculated as the number of “users,” as measured by Google
Analytics, accessing Yelp via the mobile website on a monthly average
basis over a given three-month period.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to,
among other things, the anticipated benefits of Yelp’s acquisition of
Nowait, Yelp’s strategy, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions
with respect to Nowait, including with respect to offering Nowait
products to Yelp-listed businesses, and other statements that are not
historical facts. These forward-looking statements are based on Yelp’s
current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and inherently involve
significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and timing of events
could differ materially from those predicted or implied in such
forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties,
which include, without limitation, risks associated with the
acquisition, such as the risk that the businesses will not be integrated
successfully or that such integration may be more difficult, time
consuming or costly than expected; risks related to future opportunities
and plans for the combined company, including whether Nowait’s customers
will continue to use the service following the acquisition, whether Yelp
will be able to leverage its large distribution network to increase the
customers using the service and whether the acquisition will drive
engagement on Yelp; risks related to the potential disruption of both
businesses in connection with the transaction; and the competitive and
regulatory environment while Yelp continues to expand and introduce new
products as new laws and regulations related to Internet companies come
into effect. The forward-looking statements in this release do not
include the potential impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that
may be announced and/or completed after the date hereof.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170301005514/en/
Source: Yelp Inc.
Yelp Inc.
Shannon Eis
press@yelp.com