Just Eat boss laughs at JPMorgan’s idea of ​​mega-merger in delivery sector – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — The chief executive of Just Eat Takeaway.com NV mocked JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s suggestion that a mega-merger in the food delivery business could be on the horizon.

Analysts at JPMorgan, including Marcus Diebel, suggested that e-commerce investor Prosus NV could create a larger company called JustiFoodHero by acquiring Just Eat and Delivery Hero SE and merging them with its Brazilian online food delivery company iFood.

“I think we need to work on the name,” Just Eat CEO Jitse Groen wrote on X, adding a laughing emoji while tagging his colleague at Delivery Hero, Niklas Oestberg.

Prosus, the Amsterdam-listed internet subsidiary of technology investor Naspers Ltd., already owns a minority stake in Delivery Hero. Fabricio Bloisi, who took the helm at Prosus and Naspers last month, previously headed iFood.

JPMorgan analysts said in a note to clients that “Prosus has the financial firepower needed for mergers and acquisitions” and the management change could be a catalyst for such large deals. Just Eat Takeaway has a market value of 2.9 billion euros ($3.2 billion), while Delivery Hero has an equity capitalization of 6.9 billion euros.

A mega-merger is one of four M&A options in the European food delivery service that analysts were considering. Spokespeople for Just Eat and JPMorgan declined to comment when asked by Bloomberg News. Prosus and Delivery Hero were asked for comment.

The food delivery sector has seen significant consolidation in recent years. Just Eat Plc and Takeaway.com NV merged in 2020 in a deal worth around $7 billion. Prosus tried to kill the deal with its own bid for Just Eat, but the target company’s shareholders rejected the proposal.

The merged company Just Eat Takeaway sold its 33 percent stake in iFood to Prosus in 2022 and is now considering a partial or full sale of its U.S. unit Grubhub.

Uber Technologies Inc. agreed in May to buy Delivery Hero’s Taiwan business for $950 million.

– With support from Loni Prinsloo.

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