Just Eat takeover demands

ANOTHER top Just Eat shareholder has opposed the £4.9bn hostile takeover of the food delivery firm – but said it would consider a price tag of nearly £1bn more.

Aberdeen Standard Investments said the cash bid from Prosus of 710p per share ‘significantly undervalues’ the firm. It is the third major shareholder to come out against the bid.

However, Aberdeen joined fellow shareholders SM Trust and Cat Rock in saying it would consider backing Prosus’s proposal if it increased its offer. Between them, the three investors control one fifth of the stock.

Aberdeen said the deal would be ‘attractive’ if the offer price were increased by 20pc, or 142p, to about 852p per share, which would value Just Eat at £5.8bn.

Its comments came after Prosus tried to derail a merger of Just Eat and Dutch rival Takeaway that would pay investors with shares in the newly- combined company, despite being rebuffed by Just Eat’s board.

Aberdeen is Just Eat’s fifth-largest shareholder, with a 5.2pc stake, meaning it stands to make nearly £252m from Prosus’s proposed deal. Its haul would rise to £302m if its demand for a higher price was met.

Frederik Nassauer, investment director of Aberdeen Standard Investments, said: ‘ We believe Prosus’s offer significantly undervalues the group. It would need to raise its offer at least 20pc for it to be attractive.’

He said Aberdeen saw the ‘ long- term potential’ of the merger with Takeaway but was concerned the firm’s tumbling share price was making it less attractive to shareholders.