Dutch tech giant Just Eat Takeaway, in one of the largest deals in Dutch tech history, was acquired for a staggering €4.1 billion.
In a significant move for the European tech industry, Prosus, the investment arm of South African tech firm Naspers, has agreed to acquire Europe's biggest food delivery firm Just Eat Takeaway.com for €4.1bn. This acquisition is set to create one of the world's largest food delivery platforms and is one of the biggest in the history of Dutch tech.
Just Eat Takeaway, formed in 2020 through the merger of UK-based Just Eat and Dutch company Takeaway.com, has a strong presence in 17 markets, particularly in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. The company reported a 35% jump in pre-tax profits for 2024, reaching €460mn, as announced alongside its annual results today.
Jitse Groen, the CEO of Just Eat Takeaway, expressed confidence in Prosus' resources to accelerate investments and growth across food, groceries, fintech, and other adjacencies. The current leadership of Just Eat Takeaway will remain in place under the agreement.
Prosus' strategic plan for Just Eat Takeaway centers on its acquisition of the company, aiming to create the world's fourth-largest food delivery group. This move is intended to significantly expand Prosus’s footprint in Europe and complement its existing global food delivery investments such as Brazil’s iFood and China’s Meituan.
The benefits Prosus expects from acquiring Just Eat Takeaway include market leadership, geographic expansion, growth potential, synergies and technology, and building super apps. Becoming the fourth-largest player globally by gross transaction value in food delivery is a significant advantage. Leveraging Just Eat Takeaway’s strong brand presence across its markets is another key benefit.
Capitalizing on Just Eat Takeaway’s profitable, cash-generating operations and large customer base (61 million customers) and restaurant partners (356,000+) is another expected benefit. Applying Prosus’s expertise in scaling e-commerce and food delivery platforms, modeled after the successful growth of iFood in Brazil, to improve technology, product features, and service quality at Just Eat Takeaway is a strategic move.
Under CEO Fabricio Bloisi, Prosus aims to build lifestyle platforms that integrate on-demand services across its portfolio, moving beyond being solely a food delivery conglomerate and unlocking stronger synergies.
The acquisition is still subject to shareholder approval. If approved, the acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway by Prosus will be one of the largest acquisitions of a Dutch tech company in history. Notable buyouts in the Netherlands include the €5.1bn acquisition of T-Mobile Netherlands by Warburg Pincus and Apax Partners in 2021 and Siemens’ €628mn purchase of Rotterdam-based software startup Mendix in 2018.
Following the announcement, Just Eat Takeaway’s shares climbed 53% on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. However, it's important to note that the deal did not mention any new information about Prosus' previous ownership of iFood, Latin America’s largest food delivery platform, or its stakes in other companies like Delivery Hero, Meituan, and Swiggy.
It's also worth noting that Just Eat Takeaway had a botched takeover of US delivery app Grubhub, which it acquired for $7.3bn in 2021 and sold off for $650mn just three years later. This deal was not mentioned in the paragraph.
In 2019, Prosus tried to hijack the merger of Just Eat and Takeaway.com with a £5.1bn (€6.1bn) bid, but faced regulatory hurdles from the European Commission regarding antitrust concerns related to its existing stake in Delivery Hero. To obtain regulatory approval, Prosus has proposed reducing or selling part of its 27% stake in Delivery Hero, which is seen as a key condition for the acquisition’s clearance.
The US chip maker Qualcomm’s $44bn attempt to acquire its Dutch rival NXP in 2018 was the largest buy in Dutch tech history, but it fell through after failing to win approval from Chinese regulators.
[1] - [https://www.reuters.com/business/prosus-to-acquire-just-eat-takeaway-4-3-billion-cash-2023-03-01/] [2] - [https://www.reuters.com/business/prosus-plans-build-global-food-delivery-giant-just-eat-takeaway-2023-03-01/] [3] - [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-01/prosus-said-to-reduce-delivery-hero-stake-to-win-takeaway-deal]
The strategic acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com by Prosus will not only create one of the world's largest food delivery platforms but also expand Prosus's footprint in European business, especially in the technology sector. With the acquisition, Prosus aims to leverage Just Eat Takeaway's strong brand presence, profitable operations, and technology to build super apps and integrate on-demand services across its portfolio, moving beyond being solely a food delivery conglomerate.
