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Melissa Goh · · 2 min readNot dead yet: Singtel looks to sell HungryGoWhere after receiving offers
Singtel is weighing offers for the sale of HungryGoWhere’s assets after a closed bid was held recently, two sources with knowledge of the process told Tech in Asia.
Several companies have offered to buy the food portal’s assets, according to one source who spoke Tech in Asia on the condition of anonymity.
Photo credit: tang90246 / 123rf
On June 8, the Singapore-based food and beverage (F&B) platform announced its impending closure by posting a notice on its site, saying that its services will cease on July 11. Its loyalty program HungryRewards will also be discontinued.
Aside from being a food reviews site, HungryGoWhere also operates TableDB, an online reservation service for restaurants in both Singapore and Malaysia. At one point, as many as 800 restaurants were using its software.
While HungryGoWhere’s active users and page views have significantly declined over the years, its remaining user base – together with TableDB – could be strategic for other players seeking to bolster their offerings in Singapore’s highly competitive and overserviced F&B sector.
While it’s possible the HungryGoWhere could be stripped down for parts once it is acquired, it will likely retain an online presence, given its brand recognition and organic web traffic.
It’s not known when the results of the closed bid will be officially announced. Tech in Asia has reached out to Singtel for this story, but the company declined to comment.
A source, however, questions the timing of the bid. Singtel should have revealed HungryGoWhere’s shutdown only after it had concluded the bidding process and completed the paperwork with the buyer, the person added.
After all, announcing a site’s closure could create a downward spiral, causing users, customers and content contributors to leave, and staff to resign. This could hurt the site’s market value further, the source pointed out.
That said, it’s unclear if Singtel had tried to offload HungryGoWhere prior to its shutdown and whether it had interested buyers.
Following the announcement, most of HungryGoWhere’s 13-member team was redeployed into other roles within the Singtel group, CNA reported.
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The bid raises questions about the timing of the shutdown announcement.
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