South African media and investment company, Naspers has made an unsolicited bid to acquire Just Eat, in a bid to become the world’s leading food delivery business operator.
This bid values Just Eat at £4.9 billion ($6.3 billion) and has skyrocketed Just Eat’s share up by 26% on the New York Stock Exchange. If it falls through, it could spoil Just Eat’s plan for an all-stock merger with Takeaway.com.
The move also reveals Naspers ambition to intensify the rivalry with Uber and Amazon in online food delivery, a very lucrative market. If it falls through, Just Eat deal will add to Naspers stakes in Europe’s Delivery Hero, Brazil’s iFood, India’s Swiggy and an indirect stake through Tencent in Meituan Dianping, a Chinese food delivery company.
Naspers is making the offer through Prosus, its subsidiary that was listed last month on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
Since 2016, Naspers has invested $2.8 billion in its online food delivery business which spans 400000 restaurant partners across 41 countries. The acquisition of Just Eat will add 13 markets and 100000 restaurant partners to its network.
South Africa Signs New Agreement with Chinese Company, Tencent to Scale Foreign Investment
The South Africa Department of Tourism has signed a new partnership agreement with Chinese tech company Tencent to accelerate tourism activities in the country. The partnership will allow South Africa to advertise places in the country on Tencent’s social network medium, WeChat.
See also: Egypt-based RiseUp Acquires StarterHub in Latest Deal
Tencent is a Chinese multinational tech company that offers various tech products and services like instant messaging and social media apps, entertainment, AI technology amidst others. The company also owns the popular networking site WeChat as well as Tencent QQ. It’s market valuation stands at $400 billion.
The South Africa government will capitalize on the Tech company’s vast reach to access millions of potential Chinese travelers.
According to the South Africa tourism minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, the country is open to accommodate new business ventures from foreign countries.
He noted that the country has excellent transport services and communication infrastructure which competes with the best communication facility globally.
he partnership agreement between the duo will span across two years and will position South Africa as the preferred tourism and investment destination in China through digital marketing campaigns on WeChat and other Tencent Platforms.
The agreement will also allow Tencent:
Train the South African Tourism Sector on best practices for destination development.
Accelerate the implementation of WeChat Pay for Chinese travelers that will visit South Africa.
Advise the South African government on the best practice to increase Chinese visitors’ experience while they make use of the QR codes.
With the agreement, South Africa will be able to access multiple segments of the Chinese travelers market and enrich the tourist experience.
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