Having raised £80 million of venture capital investment during the last five years, Just Eat is planning to achieve further growth by going public.

Set up in 2001 as Danish company, Just Eat is now headquartered in the UK and now has 36,000 takeaway restaurants signed up to its platform and has seen its smartphone application downloaded 3 million times.

It is now present in 13 markets and posted revenues of £96.8 million during 2013, resulting in an EBITDA of £14.1 million.

Recent growth for the online business has been driven through acquisitions, with its most recent resulting in the purchase of British business Meal2Go for an undisclosed amount. The technology Meal2Go has developed was snapped up so that Just Eat can provide its takeaway restaurant partners with a central system for managing orders.

David Buttress, CEO of Just Eat, says that the business has delivered ‘consistently impressive results’ and built ‘leading positions’ in a number of markets.

‘We see further opportunities ahead as we encourage more people to experience the benefits of online takeaway ordering,’ he adds.

‘Our team is focused with a clear strategy and I believe we have a strong platform for continued rapid growth. The listing of Just Eat on the London Stock Exchange marks the beginning of the next stage of our growth and development.’

More on Just Eat:

• Third round of £40 million for Just Eat
• Just Eat eyes corporate market with Urbanbite acquisition
• Just Eat in £10.5 million Series A

To prepare for the initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to bring in £100 million, Just Eat is bringing in two new ‘experienced’ independent non-executive directors, who are as yet unnamed.

The move to the public markets is said to provide the business with a platform to target what it describes as ‘less mature and new markets’. Some £80.4 million of revenue from a 2013 total of £96.8 million was derived from its more established locations of the UK and Denmark.

The listing would mark the one of the first moves made by one of the government and Tech City UK’s Future Fifty candidates to secure a public status. Back in October 2013, the first crop of companies to secure access to the tools needed to secure an IPO were named. Just Eat was one of the 25 alongside the likes of online property business Zoopla, travel search company Skyscanner and taxi booking service Hailo.

John Hughes, non-executive chairman at Just Eat, comments, ‘Just Eat has gone from strength to strength in recent years – as reflected in its growing scale and internationalisation.

‘David [Buttress] was instrumental in founding the UK business and has an impressive team who are delivering strong results through their talent and dedication.’