UK OKs Just Eat Acquisition By Takeaway.com

The United Kingdom’s regulator approved Takeaway.com’s purchase of rival Just Eat on Thursday (April 23).

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the agency responsible for protecting competition, said the £6.2 billion ($7.7 billion) deal would not reduce competition, according to a Reuters report.

“After interrogating how this deal is likely to affect the UK market, we are satisfied that there are no competition concerns,” said Colin Raftery, senior director of mergers at the CMA, in a statement.

The regulatory approval came as the combined Just Eat-Takeaway raised €700 million ($754 million) in new financing. The pair said it would use the cash to reduce debt and provide financial flexibility for potential strategic opportunities, the Financial Times reported.

Takeaway.com, the Dutch company that specializes in online food ordering and home delivery, announced in January that its purchase of Just Eat was a done deal after besting a bid by technology investor Prosus.

Shares in the combined companies would start trading on the London Stock Exchange in February Takeaway.com said.

Though the acquisition deal went on to close soon after, the CMA had ordered the two companies not to integrate their operations while it probed the proposal.

In other news, British regulators last week gave their initial green light for Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo, the London online food delivery company that said it could go bankrupt without an infusion of cash due to COVID-19.

A final decision is expected in June. Neither company would reveal the value of the deal.

Online food services apps have become essential during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the mass closing of eateries.

Jitse Groen, CEO of Just Eat Takeaway.com, said earlier this month that consumers had turned to online orders when they got bored with being stuck at home.

Analysts predict further consolidation in the global online food industry.