Just Eat £3.6bn takeover by Prosus wins green light from EU watchdogs

Just Eat’s 4.1 billion euro (£3.6 billion) takeover has been approved by European regulators after buyer Prosus agreed to address its competition concerns.

The European Commission said new conditions to the tie-up will protect consumer choice when it comes to ordering food at home.

Prosus, a technology firm which is majority-owned by South Africa’s Naspers, agreed to buy the Dutch takeaway delivery giant in May.

But the EU regulator said it had concerns about the fact that Naspers already has a 28% stake in Delivery Hero, a rival to Just Eat.

The deal could reduce competition in the takeaway market and lead to coordination between the two firms, which could have resulted in higher prices for consumers, the Commission said.

To address these concerns, Naspers has agreed to reduce its shareholding in Delivery Hero to a “very low percentage” within 12 months, which it did not disclose, but would make it no longer the biggest shareholder.

The regulator said the modified takeover terms eased its competition concerns and allowed it to give it the green light.

European Commission executive Teresa Ribera said: “We had concerns that the acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com by Naspers could allow the parties to coordinate their behaviour in the food delivery market, reducing competition and consumers choice.

“Today’s binding commitments preserve both competition and consumer choice when ordering food at home.

“This decision also sends a clear warning to an industry with recent anti-trust issues: we won’t tolerate any anti-competitive behaviour that may harm consumers.”

Prosus is expected to be the fourth largest food delivery group in the world following the takeover.

The takeaway sector has been the subject of major takeover swoops in recent months, with UK-listed Deliveroo agreeing to be bought by US rival DoorDash for around £2.9 billion.

Prosus chief executive Fabricio Bloisi said he was “thrilled” by the “swift approval” of the group’s acquisition.

“Innovation doesn’t wait, and we can now get to work quickly, as AI (artificial intelligence) is rapidly reshaping food delivery,” he said.

“Our ambition is clear: to build a true European tech champion and lead the next chapter in food delivery innovation.”