28th Oct 2019 10:25
(Alliance News) - Takeaway.com NV on Monday called on German company Delivery Hero SE to abstain from a vote on the Dutch firm's takeover of Just Eat PLC, citing a conflict of interest due to its links with Prosus NV.
Johannesburg- and Amsterdam-listed Prosus, which last week made a rival bid to acquire the UK-listed food delivery giant, is Delivery Hero's largest shareholder, Takeaway.com said.
Takeaway.com said: "Delivery Hero's own market position as well as Prosus' position as the largest shareholder in Delivery Hero in itself gives rise to a conflict of interest. Prosus' recent announcement of an unsolicited offer for Just Eat with the intention to make both Just Eat and Delivery Hero part of its global Food Delivery business adds to this. This announcement was followed by Delivery Hero's disclosure that it is a presumed concert party of Prosus under the UK Takeover Code."
In August, Takeaway.com and Just Eat proposed an all-share combination to create one of the largest food delivery companies in the world with a market capitalisation around EUR10 billion and processing orders worth over EUR7 billion per year.
However, last Tuesday, Prosus, a subsidiary of media giant Naspers Ltd, made a GBP4.9 billion bid for Just Eat.
Prosus offered 710 pence per Just Eat share, which it noted is a 20% premium to Takeaway.com's own offer of 594p per share.
Just Eat shares were 0.3% higher at 760.00 pence each in London on Monday morning. In Johannesburg just after midday, Prosus shares were 1.3% higher at ZAR1,020.50 and Naspers shares were 0.9% higher at ZAR2,110.25.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
Copyright 2019 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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