The merger of UK online food delivery giant Just Eat with a European market leader has been finalised.
Last week the London company released a statement on the London Stock Exchange to reveal it had reached an all-share combination agreement with Takeaway.com.
The merged company Just Eat Takeaway.com – which will be headquartered in Amsterdam in the Netherlands – will be the market leader in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada and have 40 million customers across 20 countries.
When the deal goes through later this year, Just Eat shareholders will own approximately 52.2 per cent of the new company, while Takeaway.com shareholders will own approximately 47.8 per cent.
Takeaway.com CEO Jitse Groen will become CEO of the merged company while Paul Harrison, CFO of Just Eat, will assume the role of CFO of the combined group.
Brent Wissink, currently CFO of Takeaway.com, and Jörg Gerbig, currently COO of Takeaway.com, will assume the role of co-COOs.
Mike Evans, currently the chairman of Just Eat, will assume the role of chairman of the supervisory board of the Combined Group. Adriaan Nühn, currently chairman of the Takeaway.com supervisory board, will assume the role of vice-chairman.
“The board believes that this is a compelling offer for Just Eat shareholders which will create a global leader in a dynamic and rapidly growing sector,” Evans said.
“Together we will have the scale to address the huge opportunities in the delivery market, as ordering food moves to becoming an everyday convenience.”
Just Eat will continue to be listed on the London Stock Exchange and maintain a significant part of its operations in the UK.
“There is unprecedented competition in this global market, with lots of new parties,” said Groen.
“Bringing these two together means we can pool the profits from both, to allocate capital efficiently to 23 countries.”
The merger is expected to lead to €20m in cost savings after four years.