Blue Apron is on the block: report
Farmers Box investor eyes the struggling meal kit delivery service: report
Meal kit delivery service Blue Apron could get gobbled up by a tech investor.
The New York-based national food company which sends subscribers ingredients and recipes to make at home could get bought by an investor in rival service Farmer's Box, the New York Post reported Thursday.
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Shares jumped on Thursday and were briefly halted by the New York Stock Exchange on heavy volume. Still, the stock has lost 85 percent of its value over the past 52 weeks.
Virginia investor Tai Lopez reportedly reached out to Blue Apron about the potential sale last week when the company said it was considering merging its business with others to raise more funding. Lopez allegedly declined to say how much he's willing to pay for the meal kit service but is already strategizing on how to revive it.
"Blue Apron's core product should be prepared foods and snacks," Lopez told The Post, adding: "There is a limited market for people who want to cook."
Blue Apron was one of the first online ordering services to capitalize on sending at-home cooks ingredients right to their doors when it first launched in 2012. It once attracted more than a million users, however, the company has struggled to cook up profits since going public in 2017, when it was valued at nearly $2 billion. It's valuation shrunk to $58 million last week when the business revealed its subscribers dropped down to 351,000 for the fourth quarter.
The decline comes amid increased competition from rivals like HelloFresh and grocery stores. Kroger acquired Home Chef, one of the largest private meal services for $200 million in 2018. Whole Foods, owned by Amazon, also offers meal kits.
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BLUE APRON WEIGHS SALE AMID WANING APPETITE FOR MEAL KITS
Blue Apron, which has a production site in New Jersey and California, said it would shutter its packaging and shipping facility in Arlington, Texas cutting more than 200 jobs.
A Blue Apron spokesperson tells FOX Business, "We do not comment on rumors or speculation."
Tai Lopez did not immediately return a request for comment.