Just Eat Takeaway.com will delist from the London Stock Exchange as the Dutch food delivery app looks to cut costs and complexity.
The value of the group’s London-listed shares have plunged almost 85 per cent since the February 2020 debut at £77.40 each, as waning post-Covid demand and aggressive expansion efforts have eaten away at its bottom line.
Just Eat told investors this morning it would quit London at the end of this year ‘in order to reduce the administrative burden, complexity and costs associated with the disclosure and regulatory requirements of maintaining’ the listing.
The group, which will not seek shareholder approval for the move, also highlighted ‘low liquidity and trading volumes’ of its London-listed shares.
Just Eat shares will keep being traded on Amsterdam’s Euronext exchange.
The group becomes the latest household name to quit the London Stock Exchange, following the likes of TUI and Paddy Power owner Flutter, as boards and investors have grown impatient with poor share price returns.
On your bike: Just Eat quits London to focus on Dutch listing
Just Eat has been particularly affected by weak demand in the US.
Last month Just Eat sold US unit Grubhub for $650million – an eye-watering discount to the $7.3billion it paid for the struggling US food delivery business just three years ago.
Just Eat said on Wednesday: ‘The company hereby gives notice that, in order to reduce the administrative burden, complexity and costs associated with the disclosure and regulatory requirements of maintaining the LSE listing, and in the context of low liquidity and trading volumes of the shares on the LSE, it has requested that the FCA cancel the listing.’
What does it mean for shareholders?
Just Eat shares take the form of CREST Depository Interests (CDIs) when trading in London.
CREST is an electronic system for holding investments and settling transactions for UK and Irish stocks, and a CDI is a UK investment representing an investment on a non-UK exchange.
Just Eat said shareholders who hold CDIs ‘are urged to consult their own investment advisers and brokers on the actions that can be taken’.
This includes the steps to convert their holdings of CDIs into holdings of shares that can be traded directly on Euronext Amsterdam.
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