Prosus hikes hostile bid for Just Eat

LONDON, Dec 9 — Prosus, Europe’s largest consumer-tech company, said today it has hiked its hostile takeover bid for Just Eat, in an attempt to derail the latter’s merger deal with peer Takeaway.com.

Prosus announced in a statement that it has lifted its bid to £74 pence per share or about £5.1 billion (RM27.8 billion).

That compared with the previous £4.9-billion offer which was lodged in October after a stunning stock market debut had left Prosus flush with cash.

Takeaway.com’s merger deal, which was unveiled in July, valued Just Eat at £59.40 per share.

London-based business Just Eat, which had rejected the previous Prosus offer as too low, added it will now review the improved bid.

Just Eat’s stock value rose by 0.75 per cent to £78 on London’s second-tier FTSE 250 index, which traded 0.4 per cent higher in late morning deals.

“Just Eat is a quality business, which we believe has all the ingredients to be transformed into a long-term sector winner,” said Prosus Chief Executive Bob van Dijk in the statement.

“In recognition of this potential, we have decided to increase our offer to 740 pence per share, which we believe provides Just Eat shareholders with compelling value and therefore good reason to accept our all-cash offer.”

In reaction, Just Eat said in a statement that it was “reviewing” the improved offer and advised shareholders to take no action.

Britain’s Just Eat and Takeaway.com of the Netherlands unveiled in July a plan to join forces to create a heavyweight in the rapidly-growing food delivery sector.

The combination of the two firms would create a delivery platform worth around US$11 billion (RM45.7 billion) capable of competing against Britain-based Deliveroo and Uber Eats of the United States.

However, analysts say that Takeaway.com must now put something new on the table after the latest offering from Prosus — which is owned by South African media titan Naspers.

“Prosus’ new offer still might not be enough to tempt Just Eat and its shareholders, and either way, whoever wins the day will still have a challenge ahead of them,” said equity analyst Sophie Lund-Yates at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbroker.

“The food delivery market is an increasingly crowded space, including Uber Eats and Deliveroo among others to contend with.

“Prosus’ offer update claims to be the only option that would deliver certainty in the face of industry disruption, but it’s time to see if Takeaway.com has anything new to put on the menu.” — AFP