CMA probes into Takeaway-Just Eat merger deal

Just Eat assured its shareholders that this would not affect Takeaway’s offer.

The “dream combination” of Takeaway.com and Just Eat might be on the rocks as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into their merger deal.

The investigation aims to know whether the Dutch-based company would re-enter the UK market via the £5.9b deal.

Just Eat, in response, told their shareholders that the probe would not affect the nearing unconditionality of Takeaway’s offer.

“The approval of the CMA is not a specific condition to the Takeaway.com Offer,” the UK-based company said in a statement.

The Dutch-based delivery company has informed Just Eat shareholders that the deadline for acceptances of their offer was extended from 24 to 31 January in anticipation of CMA's probe.

Meanwhile, Cat Rock Capital, which owns 17.7 million shares (3%) of Just Eat common stock, as well as owns 3.5 million shares (6%) of common stocks of Takeaway, said that the CMA probe seemed to draw a "false equivalence" between Takeaway.com’s merger with Just Eat and Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo. 

“It is patently absurd to compare Takeaway.com with Amazon when evaluating the outlook for future competition,” Cat Rock Capital founder and managing partner Alex Captain said in a statement.

Any action the CMA takes to block this merger would only impair a UK-based company’s ability to effectively compete against these [Amazon and Deliveroo] dominant platforms,” he added. 

Amazon has injected a US$575 million (£442.2 million) investment into Deliveroo in May, before it was put on hold following the CMA’s probe into the deal.

Takeaway has already secured the approval of over 90% of Just Eat shareholders.

The CMA is expecting responses from both parties on its probe until 6 February.