South Africa’s biggest company is buying a major UEFA Champions League sponsor

Naspers, via a subsidiary of Prosus, plans to purchase Just Eat Takeaway.com, a major food delivery service and a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League.

Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) is an on-demand delivery company operating in 17 countries.

Although the company does not operate in South Africa, soccer fans may have seen its name appear during UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League games.

JET is UEFA’s official food delivery partner until 2027 and also has sponsorship rights for the UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Youth League, and UEFA Futsal Champions League.

Naspers is South Africa’s largest company and is interested in Takealot, Mr D Food, Media24, and several other companies.

It has a cross-ownership structure with Dutch-based Prosus, which houses its international assets.

Much of Naspers’s and Prosus’ wealth is tied to a substantial stake in China’s Tencent, the world’s largest video game company.

Prosus, via its wholly-owned subsidiary MIH Bidco Holdings, has made an offer for all of JET’s outstanding ordinary shares, American depositary shares and CREST depositary interests.

In February, Prosus made an all-cash offer of €20.30 per share to shareholders. The total deal is worth roughly €4.1 billion (roughly R79 billion).

The offer represents a 63% premium to the Company’s closing share price on 21 February 2025 and a 49% premium over the 3-month VWAP.

It was unanimously recommended by JET’s management board and supervisory board.

The offer memorandum has been published, and the acceptance period runs from 20 May 2025 to 29 July 2025. JET will hold an extraordinary general meeting on 8 July 2025 to discuss the buyout.

Prosus and JET expect the completion of the deal by year-end 2025.

“Europe is at a pivotal moment to create a new generation of AI-powered tech champions, and this transaction is a unique opportunity to lead that transformation,” said Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi.

“With Prosus’s strong technical and investment capabilities, combined with JET’s leading brand position in key European markets, I’m confident this deal will create tremendous value for our customers, drivers, partners, and shareholders.”

Bloisi himself is no stranger to the on-demand food delivery service. Before taking over as Group CEO, he was in charge of iFood.

He purchased iFood in 2013 when it was a 20-person start-up, and it has since grown to become Latin America’s leading food delivery company.

Napers has also benefited from Mr D Food’s strong performance, which became profitable for the first time at the end of the 2024 financial year.