Just eat takeaway, once a food delivery giant, faces a shocking €4bn takeover after massive losses.
Just Eat Takeaway, once a leader in Europe’s food delivery market, is set to vanish from stock markets after a staggering €4.1bn buyout by investment group Prosus. The deal, announced this week, marks a dramatic end to years of turbulence, from pandemic-fuelled highs to crushing financial losses.
The all-cash offer of €20.30 per share represents a 22% premium over the company’s recent stock performance. However, it remains far below the €23.50 price at which Takeaway.com first went public in 2016. The acquisition signals a desperate move for survival after Just Eat Takeaway suffered a catastrophic financial downturn.
Prosus, a global consumer internet group, has been eyeing Just Eat for years. In 2020, it lost a fierce bidding war against Takeaway.com, which merged with Just Eat in a high-stakes move that ultimately backfired. Under CEO Jitse Groen, Just Eat Takeaway expanded aggressively, including a disastrous $7.3bn acquisition of US-based Grubhub in 2021. That purchase turned into a financial black hole, forcing the company to sell Grubhub last November for a mere $650m—less than a tenth of its original price.
The pandemic initially sent Just Eat Takeaway’s shares soaring, as lockdowns fuelled demand for food delivery. But once restrictions eased, orders plummeted, sending the company into a spiral. In December 2024, it delisted from the London Stock Exchange, a desperate attempt to stabilise finances. Yet, when Just Eat Takeaway reported a crushing €1.65bn net loss for 2024—€1.16bn of which stemmed from Grubhub—its fate was all but sealed.
Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi, who took over in May, sees this takeover as a golden opportunity. He plans to transform Just Eat Takeaway into a “European tech champion” by funnelling new investment into its food, grocery, and fintech divisions. However, Prosus itself isn’t immune to risk—their shares took a 7% hit following the announcement.
Despite the collapse, Groen insists the deal benefits investors. “It’s a very large premium to the current share price, which is always most important in these discussions,” he claimed. He also assured that he would remain in charge post-acquisition, stating, “He [Bloisi] runs Prosus, and I run Just Eat Takeaway. That won’t change.”
For shareholders, the buyout offers certainty in an otherwise bleak landscape. Just Eat Takeaway’s stock skyrocketed 52% after the announcement, while competitors Deliveroo and Delivery Hero also saw gains of 4% and 7%, respectively.
Prosus, the investment arm of South African conglomerate Naspers, now holds stakes in multiple global food delivery giants, including India’s Swiggy, China’s Meituan, and Germany’s Delivery Hero. Their previous experience in the sector includes acquiring a one-third stake in iFood in 2022 before taking full control.
As Just Eat Takeaway prepares to disappear from public markets, the industry watches closely. Can Prosus truly turn around a company that has bled billions, or is this just another doomed experiment in an already brutal food delivery war?
