Boardroom chaos seen at Just Eat

JUST Eat Takeaway.com’s boardroom was in crisis yesterday as the chairman resigned and the chief operating officer was suspended just hours before the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

The business has faced strong criticism from shareholders over its handling of the £5.75bn takeover of US online food platform Grubhub, which it recently said it would be looking to sell.

The board is set to face shareholders in a fiery annual meeting in the Netherlands, where one of its biggest investors, Cat Rock Capital, has said it will vote against the re-election of four out of the six board members.

But chairman Adriaan Nuhn announced he would not be standing for re-election to the board after all and would leave the business as soon as the meeting finished.

Another board member, Jorg Gerbig, will also no longer be considered for re-election and has been suspended after bosses received a formal complaint against him relating to “possible personal misconduct at a company event”.

An investigation has been launched, with an external expert instructed to gather information.

Mr Gerbig said he is fully cooperating with the investigation and that he has full confidence in the outcome.

The company confirmed that the allegations do not relate to financial or reporting issues.

It added: “Mr Gerbig may be put for re-election if the allegations are determined to be unfounded.”

The last-minute announcements ahead of the meeting come a week after activist investor Cat Rock called for a major shake-up of the company, including the removal of finance chief Brent Wissink.

Cat Rock, which owns an almost 7% stake in the company, said the firm made a “mistake” by buying Grubhub and must change its leadership team to help “rebuild its credibility”.