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The move by Cat Rock, which has been an investor in Takeaway since shortly after its 2016 IPO, comes days after the company published a weaker-than-expected first quarter trading update and said it would seek to sell its U.S. arm Grubhub, which it purchased in June for $7.3 billion.
Cat Rock, which holds 6.88% of shares compared with founder Jitse Groen’s 7.13%, had earlier said the Grubhub acquisition was a strategic blunder and called for its disposal last year, setting up its own website to document its position https://justeatmustdeliver.com.
Takeaway “management made a capital allocation mistake by buying Grubhub, then lost investor trust by providing misleading financial disclosures in advance of shareholder votes on the deal,” Cat Rock said in a new statement and presentation on Monday.
Takeaway shares are down 48% percent in the year to date, closing at 25.12 on Friday. The company’s market capitalisation of 5.34 billion euros ($5.75 billion) is less than what it paid for Grubhub alone.
“The solution … is equally clear – the Company needs a new Supervisory Board that will take quick strategic action to focus the business and strengthen its capitalisation, and a CFO that will rebuild its credibility with the capital markets.”
Cat Rock’s call echoes that of hedge fund Lucerne Capital Management, with around 600,000 shares, which issued a call earlier this month to vote against the reappointment of CFO Brent Wissink.
($1 = 0.9282 euros)
