Just Eat Takeaway Stock Falls as CEO Says He Won’t Sell Grubhub

After Just Eat Takeaway CEO Jitse Groen said he has no plans to sell Grubhub, the company’s stocks fell 2.6%, Seeking Alpha reported Wednesday (Nov. 17).

Groen said he wasn’t looking actively to partner with anyone on Grubhub’s business, instead seeking out “strategic partnerships.”

This comes after shareholder Cat Rock Capital demanded that Grubhub be spun off or sold by the company. Just Eat Takeaway has said it thinks Grubhub will be part of a consolidation in the U.S., though no further specifics were offered.

Cat Rock has said the company should spin off 40% to 100% of Grubhub, and wants the company to announce such a thing by the end of the year if there are no ways to sell it before then, the report says.

Cat Rock holds a 6.5% stake in Just Eat Takeaway, which comes out to 14 million shares.

While Cat Rock approved Just Eat Takeaway’s acquisition of Grubhub and said it has supported Just Eat Takeaway’s long-term prospects, it now thinks that the business would be better off selling Grubhub to refocus and unlock more value.

Read more: Shareholder Cat Rock Wants Just Eat Takeaway.com to Ditch Grubhub

Alex Captain, founder and managing partner of Cat Rock, said the ideas about either spinning off or selling Grubhub “reflect our enthusiasm for the company’s long-term prospects and value assuming focused execution and pragmatic strategic action.”

Just Eat Takeaway has disagreed with the assessment, saying it still wants to see where it can go with the only recently-acquired Grubhub.

Cat Rock then did a presentation on the food delivery sector, explaining its views.

“We believe Just Eat Takeaway.com should act expeditiously to refocus its business on Europe, where it is the clear market leader in online food delivery and best-positioned to capture the incredibly large same-day delivery opportunity,” Captain said.

See also: DoorDash and Grubhub Race To Offer Restaurants the Most Flexible Fulfillment