Naspers has completed its R83bn acquisition of European food delivery business Just Eat Takeaway.com through its international unit, Prosus, as the offer became unconditional.
In February, the group took a second swing at acquiring Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) for €4.1bn, making it its largest investment yet.
On Thursday, Prosus said it had received strong support from Just Eat Takeaway.com's shareholders, with 90.13% of shares having been tendered.
The deal has now been declared unconditional, after its approval by the European Commission in August.
This means Naspers will own just over 90% of Europe’s biggest meal delivery company once it pays the existing investors. Settlement is expected to be done on October 6.
Prosus had extended the acceptance period of its offer to October 1 to align with a revised competition clearance timeline set by the European Commission in July.
The technology investor gained EU antitrust approval on August 11 for its bid, after agreeing to sell down its stake in German online takeout business Delivery Hero.
Naspers offered to significantly reduce its 27.4% stake in Delivery Hero to below a specified very low percentage within 12 months.
The group also pledged not to exercise the voting rights with its remaining limited stake in Delivery Hero and also not to increase its stake beyond the specified maximum level. It will not recommend or propose any person to Delivery Hero’s management and supervisory boards.
The Just Eat Takeaway.com deal would make Prosus the world’s fourth-largest food delivery company after Meituan, DoorDash and Uber, according to ING analysts.
In 2020, Naspers failed to secure a high-profile bid for Just Eat, losing out to Takeaway.com, which paid $8bn.
Prosus’ £5bn bid, about R98bn at the time, was seen as a sign of an ambitious strategy to build a bigger food delivery business to take on Silicon Valley giant Uber Eats and Amazon-backed Deliveroo.
While Prosus is now under new management, led by CEO Fabricio Bloisi, its ambition to build a European food delivery powerhouse has remained. This time, though, it acquires a bigger entity: the combined Just Eat and Takeaway.com, at a lower price, all with the benefit of lessons learnt since the first attempt.
“The successful closing of the offer is a major milestone in Prosus’ plan to create a world class technology ecosystem in Europe. The sharing of data insights and AI capabilities across the ecosystem will drive user engagement, build customer loyalty and optimise costs — all amplified at scale,” said the group.
Operating in 17 international markets, Just Eat Takeaway.com connects about 60-million customers with more than 362,000 restaurant partners.
The acquisition will be funded through Prosus’ existing cash resources.
Bloisi said: “I’m very pleased with the outcome of the tender offer, and excited to welcome JET to the Prosus ecosystem. JET has a solid foundation, but for Prosus the hard work starts now. Our goal is to act quickly to transform JET through a focus on product, customer and innovation, creating a true European tech champion that will reshape the future of food delivery.”
The group will focus its efforts to grow Just Eat Takeaway.com on improved customer segmentation and personalised experience delivery, “as well as driving operational excellence through AI-powered logistics optimisation.”
With Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.