The British-Dutch take out delivery company Just Eat announced plans Wednesdayto de-list from the London Stock Exchange, effective the end of the trading session on December 24. File photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo
The British-Dutch take out delivery company Just Eat said Wednesday it will de-list from the London Stock Exchange on Christmas Eve.
In what is seen as a blow to the bourse’s efforts to attract more tech companies to the platform, Just Eat said it had decided to end trading its in shares at the close Dec. 24 because the cost and administrative burden was not justified by the performance of the LSE listing. Advertisement
The company said in a news release that following a two-year review of its Amsterdam and London listings it had decided to quit London to “reduce the administrative burden, complexity and costs of maintaining the LSE listing, and in the context of low liquidity and trading volumes.”
The firm cited similar reasons when it de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange in 2022.
The London delisting was, a spokesperson told The Guardian, part of a “strategy to accelerate growth” as the company looked at “enhancing efficiencies” and insisted Britain remained key among its markets.
“With our network now covering 97% of the U.K. population, we remain committed to continuing our investment and cementing our leadership position in the country.” Advertisement
Europe’s number one take out food delivery firm has been struggling in the wake of boom in online ordering that fizzled with the end of the COVID-19 lockdowns and dining-in restrictions.
Just Eat said it did not require approval from its shareholders as Just Eat came under the Financial Conduct Authority’s equity shares international commercial companies secondary listing category.
While it would no longer be possible to trade the shares on the LSE, the firm vowed to maintain its primary stock listing on Euronext Amsterdam, stressing that it expected no impact for investors holding those shares.
Just Eat advised investors to seek advice from their investment advisers and brokers on how to convert their holdings into shares that can be traded directly on Euronext Amsterdam.
The company’s shares in London fell by 1.5% following the announcement.
Just Eat Takeaway.com announced the sale earlier this month of GrubHub arm to New York-based online takeout startup Wonder at a massive $6.6 billion discount to the $7.3 billion it paid for the U.S. food delivery app in 2021.
