Food delivery service Just Eat rejects new takeover offer

Food delivery company Just Eat rejected a sweetened takeover bid from investment firm Prosus on Tuesday, saying that the 5 billion pound ($6.6 billion) offer still “significantly undervalues” the company. Prosus N.V., which is owned by the wealthy South African investment group Naspers, had already bid twice for Just Eat in private, and has now made two public offers - but has seen both rejected. In October, Just Eat rejected a Prosus takeover proposal worth 4.9 billion pounds.

Just Eat, which delivers food in many European countries as well as Australia, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, among others, said in a statement that its board “continues to believe that the Prosus Offer fails to reflect appropriately the quality of Just Eat and its attractive assets and prospects.”

The company in July agreed to merge with Dutch rival Takeaway.com in a 9 billion-pound deal and is focused on completing that deal, with a shareholders’ vote expected in December. Just Eat said that the merged companies “will deliver greater value creation to Just Eat shareholders” than the latest Prosus offer.

Prosus has stakes in several other food delivery companies, including iFood in Latin America, Swiggy in India, and Delivery Hero in Europe. It is owned by Naspers, which became hugely wealthy through an early investment in Chinese tech investment company Tencent. Its stake of about 31% in Tencent is worth $123 billion, making Naspers one of the world’s biggest tech investment companies.