OpenTable Acquires Mobile Developer JustChalo in $11 Million Deal
Restaurant reservation service OpenTable has acquired mobile app developer JustChalo for approximately $11 million in stock and cash, the company announced yesterday.
According to JustChalo's rather minimalist website, it is a mobile technology company focused on the U.S. restaurant industry, though any apps it may have developed don't appear to have yet launched, as they were unavailable on the site.
OpenTable says the mobile market for booking reservations is increasingly important as 36% of the 34 million diners OpenTable seated in North America in the first quarter were booked via mobile devices. It says it has seated more than 60 million diners through mobile devices since it introduced mobile capabilities in 2008.
OpenTable Chief Technology Officer Joseph Essas said the JustChalo team's expertise will help accelerate development efforts in mobile.
Prior to co-founding JustChalo, the mobile development company's CEO Kashyap Deorah was president of Futurebazaar.com, the e-commerce arm of India's largest retailer, Future Group. According to JustChalo, Deorah had founded Chaupaati Bazaar, which merged with Futurebazaar.com in 2010, leading to his heading up the merged company.
Due to the acquisition, OpenTable said it expects to incur incremental non-GAAP operating expenses of $0.9 million in its North America operations through the remainder of the year compared to the guidance it gave on May 2, which will end up reducing full year non-GAAP earnings by $0.02 per share.
OpenTable said the stock it's issuing as part of the acquisition is being offset by shares it's repurchased during the quarter under a previously announced stock repurchase program.
The online reservation service seats more than 12 million diners a month via online bookings across more than 28,000 restaurants.
The article OpenTable Acquires Mobile Developer JustChalo in $11 Million Deal originally appeared on Fool.com.
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