Prosus to buy Just Eat for €4.1 billion as takeaway boom fades
Food-delivery platform Just Eat has been gobbled up by a Dutch rival. Now there could be further consolidation in the sector


Two months after it left the London Stock Exchange, food-delivery company Just Eat has been “snapped up” by Prosus for €4.1 billion in cash, says Jasper Jolly in the Guardian. The deal represents a 22% premium to its three-month high.
However, the stock is still worth less than a fifth of its peak above €100 in 2020. The fall in Just Eat’s share price over the past five years was due to “several missteps”, notably the “disastrous” acquisition of its US rival GrubHub. A few months ago, Just Eat revealed that it was selling GrubHub for $650 million, a fraction of the purchase price of $7.3 billion.
Just Eat’s “botched US expansion” isn’t the only reason for the fact that it is now being sold for a fraction of its peak value, says Matthew Field in the Telegraph. Another factor is that the “Covid-era boom” in ordering takeaways has faded. This has left Just Eat “battling for market share in the UK’s fiercely competitive food delivery market”. Its principal rivals are Deliveroo and Uber Eats. However, the decision by Prosus to buy it has sent other food-delivery stocks climbing across Europe on speculation of further mergers in the sector.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Shares in Amsterdam-listed Prosus may have fallen by 7% after the news of the takeover, but talk of using the Just Eat expansion to create a “European tech champion” isn’t just empty spin, says Jessica Newman in the Times. Prosus already has a food business in 70 countries and holds big stakes in several European food delivery companies, making these plans credible. In addition to owning iFood, Latin America’s leading food-delivery platform, outright, Prosus also has a 28% stake in Just Eat’s German rival, Delivery Hero; a 25% share of India’s Swiggy; and 4% of Chinese shopping platform Meituan.
Prosus’s CEO said last month that he has “$20 billion worth of firepower to spend on deal”, says Aimee Donnellan on Breakingviews. This would be more than enough to buy out the remaining shares in Delivery Hero, or “lobby for a merger [of Delivery Hero] with Just Eat”. Such a strategy looks even more attractive as splicing together the pair along with iFoods could produce €470 million of annual synergies. While such a deal might “raise antitrust eyebrows”, given that Just Eat alone has a market share above 40% in 11 European countries, the EU “is looking more kindly” on local champions within the bloc.
Still, whether or not Prosus tries to consolidate the food-delivery industry further, its track record suggests it is in it “for the long term” and interested in finding ways to “grow revenue rather than just cut costs”, says Lex in the Financial Times. There is also hope that it can apply some of iFood’s “magic sauce” to Just Eat. Such “tech tweaks” could include “voice-activated ordering for customers, optimised routes for couriers and stronger profiling for merchants”. What’s more, “improving fraud detection and knowing when – and how – to dish out discounts to customers are also applicable across the portfolio”.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.
He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.
Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.
As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri
-
End-of-tax-year money tips
The tax year will end on 5 April, and your annual allowances for 2024/25 will disappear with it. Here’s how to get your finances in shape
By Katie Williams Last updated
-
India's stock market decline wipes out $1.3 trillion in market value
More than $1 trillion has been wiped off from India's stock market after investors turn to China. Has the emerging-market darling hit rock bottom?
By Alex Rankine Published
-
India's stock market decline wipes out $1.3 trillion in market value – can investors stay optimistic?
More than $1 trillion has been wiped off from India's stock market after investors turn to China. Has the emerging-market darling hit rock bottom?
By Alex Rankine Published
-
Pensions revolution: how to profit from the trends shaping the UK pension system
The UK pension system is one of the biggest in the world. Big changes are under way, says Rupert Hargreaves
By Rupert Hargreaves Published
-
Large cap stocks start to struggle – is it time for investors to reassess their focus?
Buying quality large caps worked very well last decade. A more volatile world will be a bigger challenge for these star stocks, says Cris Sholto Heaton
By Cris Sholto Heaton Published
-
How to generate income with fixed-interest investments
Public debt is overvalued, but other fixed-interest investments now look like a bargain, says Max King
By Max King Published
-
Three top-notch Taiwanese companies cashing in on the advent of AI
Opinion Eric Chan, investment director and co-manager of the Aberdeen Asian Income Fund, highlights three potential Taiwanese winners in the technology industry
By Eric Chan Published
-
Weight-loss drugs could revolutionise the economy – the investments to buy now
The new generation of weight-loss drugs are a boon for the overweight, but they also promise to change our relationship with food and revolutionise the economy
By Dr Matthew Partridge Published
-
Find tomorrow’s Asian giants while they are still smaller companies
Opinion Nitin Bajaj, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Asian Values trust, picks three Asian companies to invest in.
By Nitin Bajaj Published
-
AI will maintain Moody’s market lead, says Stephen Connolly
Opinion Veteran data provider Moody's has adapted well to the modern world, and is one of Warren Buffett’s longest-held investments
By Stephen Connolly Published