European regulatory body approves acquisition of Just Eat by Dutch conglomerate Prosus
In a move that preserves both competition and consumer choice in the online food delivery market, the European Commission has approved the acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com by Prosus, a global internet group and majority-owned subsidiary of South African tech conglomerate Naspers Limited.
The approval comes with commitments from Prosus to address competition concerns. One of the key commitments is the reduction of Prosus's stake in Delivery Hero, a rival food delivery platform, to below 10%. Previously, Prosus held a 27.4% stake in Delivery Hero, making it the largest shareholder. With the commitments, Prosus’s shareholding will drop significantly, and it will no longer be Delivery Hero’s largest shareholder.
Prosus has also pledged not to exercise voting rights linked to its remaining stake, removing its commercial influence in Delivery Hero's decisions or strategy. This structural remedy addresses antitrust risks stemming from cross-ownership, aligning with recent EU enforcement actions against Delivery Hero for anti-competitive practices involving minority stakes.
The main regulatory concern was the reduced incentives to compete aggressively in overlapping EU markets, such as Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, and Spain, if Prosus had significant stakes in both companies. The European Commission’s approval is conditional upon Prosus complying with these binding commitments, including the substantive reduction of its ownership stake within 12 months.
The acquisition of the Amsterdam-based food delivery platform by Prosus has been in the works since it was announced. The EU competition chief, Teresa Ribera, stated that today's binding commitments ensure both competition and consumer choice.
Just Eat and Delivery Hero both offer online food delivery services in several EU member states. The acquisition would create the fourth-largest food delivery group globally. However, the commission could not disclose the ownership percentage for Delivery Hero, a Just Eat rival.
Prosus, apart from its interests in Just Eat and Delivery Hero, also has stakes in China's Meituan and Latin America's leading food delivery platform iFood. With operations across more than 70 countries, Prosus is a significant player in the global food delivery market.
In a statement, the European Commission indicated that Prosus will have no influence or material interest in Delivery Hero's commercial decisions or strategy following the commitments. This move is expected to maintain a healthy level of competition in the European food delivery market.
[1] European Commission (2022). Press release: Commission approves Prosus's acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com, subject to remedies. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_4009
[2] European Commission (2022). Q&A: Prosus's acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/QANDA_22_4009
[3] European Commission (2022). Factsheet: Prosus's acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/FWD_22_4009
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