Takeaway.com appears poised to beat out Dutch conglomerate Prosus for London-based food delivery company Just Eat, after raising its takeover offer to nearly £6.3 billion in stock.
Why it matters: Because appearances may be deceiving. Yes, Just Eat's board this morning recommended Takeaway's offer, and lowered the shareholder approval threshold to just 50%.
But this has been a fast-changing saga — last month Takeaway said it wouldn't raise its bid — and Takeaway's all-stock proposal lost significant value yesterday due to trading activity. Prosus' headline number is smaller, but is in cash
What to watch: Shareholders have until January 10 to vote.
The bottom line: "Prosus has argued that it has the resources to make the significant investments in Just East necessary to stay competitive, while Takeaway believes that it actually knows how to run a food delivery startup, rather than just own one," write Bloomberg's Natalia Drozdiak and David Hellier.
