Blue Apron surges after Kroger buys a rival
- Blue Apron is up more than 5% Thursday after Kroger announced that it will acquire meal-kit company Home Chef.
- Blue Apron shares have previously risen on speculation around a buyout.
- Watch Blue Apron trade in real-time here.
Blue Apron is up more than 5% Thursday after Kroger announced it will acquire the meal-kit-delivery company Home Chef.
Kroger agreed to buy Home Chef for an initial payment of $200 million. The deal, which is set to close in a month, may include payments of up to $500 million over the next five years, given that certain milestones are met. Kroger plans on selling the Home Chef meal kits on its grocery store shelves and online.
Blue Apron investors may be taking Kroger's acquisition of Home Chef as a signal that another big player could make a play in the meal-kit-delivery space. Blue Apron shares have lost almost 70% of their value since the company went public in June 2017.
Previously, analysts have suggested that Blue Apron's best bet for a recovery would be to be bought out by a bigger company. In February, the meal-kit maker rose nearly 7% after a Gabelli & Co analyst wrote Walmart would be a "logical buyer."
Blue Apron is down more than 22% this year.
