Takeaway acquires Britain’s Just Eat with a £6.2 billion all-share offer

The online food delivery company, Takeaway, has recently made an announcement highlighting its acquisition of Britain’s Just Eat for £6.2 billion. The announcement also highlighted that an incredible 80.4% of Just Eat’s shareholders were in favor of Takeaway’s all-share offer. The minimum threshold required to turn the offer unconditional was 50%. Takeaway and Just Eat acquisition will establish the largest food delivery business across the globe.

Takeaway’s CEO, Jitse Groen’s Remarks On The Acquisition

In a statement following the acquisition, Jitse Groen, the founder and the current CEO of Takeaway said:

“I am thrilled. Just Eat Takeaway.com is a dream combination and I am very much looking forward to leading the company for many years to come.”

Just Eat had previously received a cash bid of 800 pence from Prosus. Following a much larger, 906 pence per share offer by Takeaway, the deal was finalized and signed on Friday. Losing it to Takeaway.com, CEO Bob van Dijk of Prosus expressed his gratitude to the Just Eat’s board and commented that the firm has no regrets since the extended offer was appropriate considering the required investment to fuel Just Eat’s growth.

Prosus also pointed out that Takeaway may just be underestimating the investment that it’ll have to make to beat the rivals such as Amazon and Uber Eats. Takeaway’s CEO, on the other hand, has reiterated that food delivery is a business with minimal margin. The company’s focus, at the moment, is only on creating market dominance.

As per the sources, Takeaway’s CEO will continue to lead the merged company that will be headquartered in Amsterdam. The company, however, will be listed in London. While the majority of its 23 subsidiaries will be spread throughout Europe, a few will also be located in Australia, Latin America, and Canada.

Takeaway Expects The Merged Company To Handle More Orders Than Its Competitors

Takeaway also accentuated that the merged company is likely to see orders that will be worth more than any of its competitors including Delivery Hero, GrubHub, and Uber Eats. According to the experts, however, Takeaway has won the takeover battle, but the integration of Just Eat poses an even bigger challenge.

Via unifying brands, centralizing orders, and boosting procurement, Takeaway expects the merged company to post 20 million euros in annual cost savings. Further plans following the merger include Takeaway selling 33% of Just Eat’s stake in the biggest food company in Latin America, iFood.