The Dutch Investment Group Prosus, owner of iFood, signed an agreement to buy Just Eat Takeway.com for 4.1 billion euros to create a “European champion” in the food delivery sector.
Prosus is offering 20.30 euros per action of Just Eat. The supply for all the capital is unanimously supported by the administration and fiscal council of Just EAT.
The agreement will mark a significant change in the European food delivery market and will have potential global implications, as it will make Prosus the fourth largest meal delivery company in the world, behind MEITUAN, Doordesh and Uber, said analysts from Ing.
Prosus, controlled by South African Naspers, is also the largest shareholder of Glovo, owner of Delivery Hero with a 28%stake, the company said in a statement on Monday.
With businesses covering more than 70 countries, Prosus also owns Latin America’s main food delivery platform, iFood, and has a 25% stake in the main food delivery platform and supermarket items in India, Swiggy, and a 4% stake in Meituan, he said.
Prosus shares retreated 7% in Amsterdam after the announcement, while Just Eat fired 54%. Naspers shares fell more than 6% in Johannesburg.
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“Our focus is on growth and with growth we hope to create more jobs in many dimensions,” Prosus’s executive president, Brazilian Fabricio Bloisi, told journalists in a teleconference, referring to Just Eat.
Delivery Hero’s shares advanced about 5%. A German trader said some analysts were seeing the deal as a first step toward a fusion between Dutch and German food delivery groups. Bloisi said there are no plan or project on Delivery Hero at the moment.
The executive added that a new investment in technology, including AI, will aim to make Just EAT’s delivery model more efficient. “We are not looking forward to other big news in food delivery or acquisitions now,” he said.
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Citi analysts estimate that Prosus has about $ 5 billion to invest in more mergers and acquisitions, although they expect short -term focus to be in the execution and growth of their own assets.
