(Alliance News) - Prosus NV said Monday evening it "welcomes the opportunity" to discuss the merits of its offer for Just Eat PLC.
Johannesburg- and Amsterdam-listed Prosus – spun off from South Africa's Naspers Ltd - made a GBP4.9 billion cash bid for Just Eat last week. Prosus made three bids, Just Eat said, at 670p, 700p, and finally 710p, but all of them have been rejected.
In August, Takeaway.com and Just Eat proposed an all-share combination to create one of the largest food delivery companies in the world with a market capitalisation around EUR10 billion and processing orders worth over EUR7 billion per year.
Earlier on Monday, Takeaway.com, also Dutch listed, called on German company Delivery Hero SE to abstain from a vote on the takeover, citing a conflict of interest due to its links with Prosus.
Prosus is Delivery Hero's largest shareholder.
Prosus replied, saying it does not control Delivery Hero or its investment decisions.
"This was separately confirmed by statements made by Delivery Hero, as reported by the media today which said 'the decision to sell down Takeaway.com shares was taken by Delivery Hero's management board independently in September 2019. Delivery Hero had no knowledge of Prosus' contemplated offer to acquire Just Eat prior to the publication of the offer,'" Prosus added.
Just Eat has continually said Prosus's offer undervalues the firm.
So far, three major Just Eat shareholders have rejected the Prosus bid.
Aberdeen Standard Investments, which has a 5.2% stake in Just Eat, said to even consider any offer, Prosus must increase its offer by at least 20%.
However, the investor also warned that the Just Eat merger with Takeaway.com was causing some concern, with the latter struggling against competition.
Just Eat's biggest shareholder, SM Trust, and activist investor Cat Rock also said the bid undervalues the company.
On Monday, Prosus replied: "The Just Eat share price on the day before we announced our offer, even with the benefit of the premium embedded within Takeaway.com's offer, was 589p. In our view, this price reflected the market's disappointment in the continued weak performance of the business, as most recently evidenced in their third quarter update."
Last week, Just Eat said its third quarter revenue growth was "strong" with rising orders despite changing consumer tastes, and the firm retaining full year forecasts.
For the three months ended September, revenue grew 25% on the year prior to GBP247.5 million with orders up 16% to 62 million during the period. Within the UK, orders rose 8% to 33 million.
Prosus continued: "This reflects the strong competitive pressures the business is facing and highlights the significant investment required to compete successfully. We intend to invest in the business in order to ensure it remains competitive. The Prosus offer of 710p is a 20% premium to the 589p Just Eat share price on the day before we announced our offer and aims to deliver value by eliminating operational execution risk and providing certainty for Just Eat's shareholders today at an attractive premium."
Just Eat shares closed 0.4% higher in London at 761.00p each on Monday. In Johannesburg, Prosus shares closed 0.9% higher at ZAR1,016.69 while Naspers ended 0.2% higher at ZAR2,095.91.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com and Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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