The long battle for the ownership of Just Eat has finally come to an end! In the past couple of months, Takeaway.com and Nasper’s internet spin-off Prosus had engaged in the battle of words over their rival offers.
Long story short!
After Takeaway.com and Just Eat agreed on a merger back in August, Prosus attempted to gatecrash the deal, launching 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). Investors in Just Eat had time till 1 PM on Friday to decide between two deals.
However, the result turned out to be a major blow for the South African tech investment company.
Takeaway.com takes Just Eat!
According to the latest development, the Dutch food delivery firm is all set to clinch the £6 billion (approx €7 billion) acquisition of Just Eat, creating one of the largest food delivery groups in the world. Takeaway.com CEO, Jitse Groen will lead the new entity.
Jitse Groen, Takeaway chief executive, said:
“I wish to thank everybody involved, but especially the Just Eat staff, for their patience, in what must have been an uncertain time. Just Eat Takeaway.com is a dream combination, and I am very much looking forward to leading the company for many years to come.”
80% vs 0.02%
Around 80% of the shareholders of Just Eat have accepted Takeaway.com’s all-share offer, which it has raised before Christmas in response to Prosus.
Notably, the deal is expected to be closed in the upcoming weeks. On the other hand, investors representing just 0.02% of Just Eat shares backed Prosus’s £5.5 billion bid.
Van Dijk, Prosus’ chief executive, said in a statement on Friday, said:
“We have an outstanding track record of executing M&A at the right price for our shareholders and of generating strong returns. We will continue to identify and pursue opportunities that will be both additives to our current strategy and generate high levels of return for our shareholders.”
Return half of the proceeds to the shareholders!
The Dutch company’s offer hands Just Eat investors a 58% stake in the merged company. Upon completion of the merger, Takeaway said that it would sell Just Eat’s 33% stake in Brazilian meal app iFood, in which Prosus invested and return half of the proceeds to the shareholders of the combined group. The new company will be based in Amsterdam and listed in London.
The latest deal makes London the contention ground for food delivery showdown with rivals, including UberEats, and Deliveroo.
Prosus – the biggest listed consumer Internet firm!
Last year, Prosus became the biggest listed consumer internet firm in Europe. It surfaced on the Amsterdam stock exchange with over €100 billion value. It’s worth mentioning that, 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
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