Prosus-Just Eat Takeaway: EU approves acquisition

The European Commission has approved Naspers' acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com through its subsidiary Prosus . The green light, however, came only after the South African company proposed remedies to ensure competition in the food delivery market, including the sale of a stake in Delivery Hero .

Prosus announced its acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) in February for €4.1 billion . The transaction was notified to the European Commission on June 20. An investigation was launched to determine whether it would impact competition, as Prosus owns 27.4% of Delivery Hero, a competitor to JET in Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, and Spain.

Delivery Hero was acquired by Takeaway.com in December 2018. The merger with Just Eat created Just Eat Takeaway.com. During its investigation, the European Commission identified two critical issues related to the acquisition:

• possible less competition between JET and Delivery Hero
• possible agreement between JET and Delivery Hero with price increase

Prosus has promised to sell a stake in Delivery Hero (within 12 months), after which it will no longer be the majority shareholder. Furthermore, Naspers will not exercise the voting rights associated with the remaining shares and will not recommend or approve the appointment of individuals employed by Naspers or any company in which it holds an equity stake to serve on Delivery Hero's board of directors or supervisory board.

Finally, Naspers will not increase its shareholding in Delivery Hero beyond the specified maximum level. An independent trustee will monitor compliance with the commitments. The Commission has therefore approved the transaction because it does not raise competition concerns. Delivery Hero will remain independent of JET in the European food delivery market.