This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

The battle for control of UK food delivery firm Just Eat has intensified as rival bidder Prosus raised its offer to £5.1bn.

Prosus is seeking to break up the agreed merger between Just Eat and Dutch rival Takeaway.com, a deal that would create one of the world’s biggest online food delivery companies.

Prosus, the Amsterdam-listed offshoot of South African technology group Naspers, launched a rival 710p a share cash offer in October and has raised its terms to 740p a share, further above Takeaway.com’s £4.8bn offer. Prosus argued that its bid was “the only one that delivers certainty in the face of undeniable industry change”.

Just Eat said its board was studying the increased offer, and advised shareholders to take no action. Shares in the business closed up slightly on Monday, gaining 4p to 781p.

The Prosus chief executive, Bob van Dijk, said: “We have had the opportunity to listen to the views of Just Eat shareholders, share our perspective on the global food delivery sector and reflect on the unquestionable challenges Just Eat faces, as clearly seen in its third quarter results.

“We have also had extensive discussions with our own shareholders with regards to our long term strategy for food delivery and Just Eat’s role within that.”

Prosus reduced the level of acceptances required from 75% to a simple majority (50% plus one Just Eat share). Shareholders have until 1pm on 27 December to make up their minds.

Takeaway.com insisted its all-share offer remains “far superior”. Jitse Groen, its chief executive, said: “A slightly higher derisory cash bid remains a derisory cash bid.”

The board of Just Eat has continued to recommend the Dutch offer despite higher terms from Prosus.

Cat Rock, a top 10 Just Eat shareholder, is maintaining its backing for Takeaway.com’s bid, saying it would only support Prosus if its offer were raised to 925p a share.

Alex Captain, Cat Rock’s founder and managing partner, said: “Prosus continues to dramatically undervalue Just Eat.

“We think a Prosus cash bid needs to be at least five times 2020 consensus revenue, or 925p per share, in order to compete with a Takeaway.com merger that we believe could comfortably be worth 1,200p per share by the end of 2020.”

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Prosus became Europe’s biggest listed consumer internet firm when it floated on the Amsterdam stock exchange with a value of more than €100bn (£84bn) in September, and is controlled by Naspers, one of Africa’s most valuable companies.

With growing competition from Uber Eats and Deliveroo, there have been a number of deals in the fast-growing online food delivery market. Just Eat bought UK rival HungryHouse in January 2018, while Takeaway.com acquired Delivery Hero’s food delivery business in Germany last December.

Prosus has a 22% stake in the DeliveryHero business outside Europe, alongside holdings in India’s Swiggy and iFood in Latin America.