Just Eat Takeaway is under pressure from a major shareholder

LONDON – Just Eat Takeaway.com is one of the largest food delivery companies in Europe, with a market value of $ 17.8 billion. But one shareholder thinks it should be worth a lot more.

“JET’s deeply flawed communication has made it the worst performing online food delivery stock over the past two years despite strong operational performance,” said Cat Rock Capital, which owns a 4.2% stake, on Tuesday. in Just Eat Takeaway.

JET’s Amsterdam-listed shares are down around 22% year-to-date. German rival Delivery Hero has fallen around 2% year-to-date.

Cat Rock Capital said JET’s revenue multiple was lower than that of its competitors. DoorDash, which is expected to generate a similar amount of sales at JET this year, is worth more than four times as much as its European counterpart, the company said.

JET was formed last year following a merger between Britain’s Just Eat and Dutch operator Takeaway.com. The combined online takeout app then acquired U.S. company Grubhub, beating a rival Uber takeover bid.

Cat Rock Capital said JET itself was vulnerable to a takeover by a competitor – and it wouldn’t be at a favorable price.

“Just Eat Takeaway.com is a fantastic company with # 1 positions in many of the world’s most valuable online food delivery markets and a long track of growth,” said Alex Captain, Founder and Managing Partner of Cat Rock Capital.

“However, JET has failed to improve its communications with investors and markets since its IPO, leaving it deeply undervalued and vulnerable to take-over bids well below its intrinsic value.”

The investment firm challenged JET CEO Jitse Groen, training with Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi, on Twitter. Groen accused Khosrowshahi of trying to “lower” his company’s stock price by announcing an expansion of Uber Eats’ delivery business in Berlin, a major market for JET.

JET should explore “strategic combinations” with competitors to strengthen the performance of the company, said Cat Rock Capital.

The stock rose more than 2% on Tuesday, even as most European markets fell, following the publication of comments from Cat Rock Capital. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm is JET’s fifth largest shareholder, according to data from Refinitiv.

“Just Eat Takeaway.com maintains a regular dialogue with all of its shareholders and we take all of their views very seriously,” a JET spokesperson told CNBC.

“We will be hosting a Capital Markets Day in October to provide the market with increased visibility on how we will capitalize on the exciting long-term growth opportunities we have across our business. “