Amsterdam’s Just Eat Takeaway completes sale of its equity stake in iFood to Prosus

Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway, an online food delivery marketplace, announced on Tuesday, November 22, that it has completed the sale of its 33.3 per cent equity stake in Brazil’s iFood to Prosus for €1.5B. 

Prosus is a global consumer internet group and technology investor. Through its venture team, Prosus invests in areas including health, logistics, blockchain, and social commerce. 

In August 2022, Just Eat Takeaway.com announced that it had agreed with MIH Movile Holdings B.V, an affiliate of Prosus, to sell its equity stake of approximately 33 per cent in iFood. 

The deal comprises €1.5B in cash at closing and up to €300M in deferred consideration, depending on how the online meal delivery market performs over the following 12 months.

However, the Dutch company says it is retaining the transaction proceeds to maintain its balance sheet strength and to service repayments of its upcoming debt maturities.

The iFood joint venture is headed by iFood Holdings and IF-JE Holdings and claims to be a leading online food and delivery platform in Latin America. 

The sale of the iFood stake comes after Groen and Just Eat Takeaway.com came under increased pressure from investors to turn around its business and consolidate loss-making operations. As a result, the company exited Romania and sold part of Grubhub’s stake to Amazon. 

Just Eat Takeaway.com claims that it is still committed to increasing its profitability and making wise financial allocations. 

Just Eat Takeaway: What you need to know

Founded in 2000 by Jitse Groen, Just Eat Takeaway claims to be one of the largest online food delivery marketplaces outside China. It is focused on connecting consumers and restaurants through its platforms. As a result, the company mainly collaborates with delivery restaurants. 

The company also provides its proprietary ‘restaurant delivery services to restaurants that do not deliver themselves. 

Currently, Just Eat Takeaway is connected with nearly 634,000 restaurants. It operates in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland, as well as through partnerships in Colombia and Brazil.