As the food delivery business is on the verge of reaching multi-billion euros worth, big players in Europe, Just Eat and Takeaway.com entered a deal in July this year to merge to form one of the world’s biggest online food delivery companies.
Going by the terms of the agreement, Just Eat shareholders will receive 0.09744 Takeaway.com shares for each Just Eat share. And, they would own 52.2% of the merged group. Also, the headquarters of the merger will be in Amsterdam with a major part of the operations existing in the UK. Also, it will be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Back then, analysts in the industry put forth a speculation that there could be a counterbid from the Berlin-based delivery giant Delivery Hero or the South African media and internet conglomerate Naspers. Making this speculation turn true, Prosus, the Amsterdam-based spinoff of Naspers has intensified the rival by raising its offer to £5.1 billion (nearly €6 billion).
Seeking to break the merger!
By raising the offer, Prosus seeks to break up the agreed merger between Takeaway.com and Just Eat. It launched a rival 710p a share cash offer back in October. This raised its overall value to 740p a share, which is above the agreed offer of £4.8 billion (nearly €5.7 billion). Prosus adds that the bid was the only one to deliver certainty in the face of the undeniable industry change.
The Prosus chief executive, Bob van Dijk, said: “We have had the opportunity to listen to the views of Just Eat shareholders, share our perspective on the global food delivery sector and reflect on the unquestionable challenges Just Eat faces, as clearly seen in its third quarter results.”
“We have also had extensive discussions with our own shareholders with regards to our long term strategy for food delivery and Just Eat’s role within that.”
Just Eat board is analysing the offer
In response to this move from Prosus, Just Eat said that its board is studying the raised offer and advised shareholders not to take any action right now. Shareholders have time until December 27 1 PM to make up their minds.
The board continued to recommend the Dutch offer despite the raise in the offer from Prosus. Just Eat shares were closed at 777p on Friday and the company was valued at £5.3 billion (nearly €6.3 billion) and the shares rose to 784.4p on Monday.
Prosus is valued at €100B
In September this year, Prosus became the biggest listed consumer internet firm in Europe. It surfaced on the Amsterdam stock exchange with over €100 billion value. It is still controlled by Naspers, which is one of the most valuable companies in Africa. In addition to this, Prosus also possesses a 22% stake in DeliveryHero business outside of Europe, iFood in Latin America, and Swiggy in India, all being food delivery giants.
Main image picture credits: Takeaway
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more European technology news.