Key Highlights
- Shares of Delivery Hero climbed more than 7% following Prosus’s announcement of a stake sale to Aspex Management
- The transaction is valued at €22 per share — representing approximately a 10% premium over Friday’s closing price and a 22% markup on the 30-day VWAP
- Prosus is set to generate roughly €335 million (~$395 million) in gross proceeds
- This divestment fulfills part of the European Commission’s antitrust requirements linked to Prosus’s Just Eat Takeaway acquisition
- Following completion, Aspex’s ownership will increase to approximately 14%, while Prosus will retain around 17% — still exceeding the mandated reduction target
Shares of Delivery Hero (DHER) experienced a significant rally of over 7% on Monday following Prosus’s announcement that it would divest a 5% ownership position in the Berlin-based food delivery platform to Aspex Management, a Hong Kong-based investment firm.
The transaction has been structured at €22 per share. This pricing reflects approximately a 10% premium relative to Delivery Hero’s Friday closing market price, and marks a 22% premium compared to the company’s 30-day volume-weighted average trading price.
Prosus anticipates receiving gross proceeds totaling approximately €335 million, equivalent to roughly $395 million USD.
Aspex Management currently ranks as Delivery Hero’s second-largest investor. The firm has been actively advocating for the company’s chief executive to pursue additional asset sales or consider resignation.
Upon completion of this transaction, Aspex’s total ownership stake in Delivery Hero will climb to approximately 14%.
Prosus, for its part, will reduce its holdings to roughly 17% — a figure that remains considerably higher than the regulatory threshold mandated by European authorities.
European Commission Mandates Behind Strategic Divestment
This sale is a direct consequence of regulatory stipulations imposed by the European Commission. Last August, the EC granted approval for Prosus’s acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway, contingent upon Prosus reducing its Delivery Hero ownership to under 10% before the end of summer this year.
When the acquisition was finalized, Prosus controlled approximately 27% of Delivery Hero. The EU’s requirement to decrease ownership below 10% indicates that additional stake sales will be necessary in the coming months.
This marks the second substantial divestment within recent weeks.
In April, Prosus divested a 4.5% stake in Delivery Hero to Uber Technologies for €270 million. The current Aspex transaction carries a comparable valuation to that earlier deal.
Additional Stake Sales Expected Before Deadline
Combined, the transactions with Uber and Aspex have brought Prosus’s ownership down from roughly 27% to approximately 17%.
To satisfy the European Union’s mandate of reducing ownership below 10% ahead of the late summer deadline, Prosus must dispose of at least an additional 7% stake in Delivery Hero.
This indicates that further stake disposals are virtually certain in the months ahead, although Prosus has not publicly announced any additional transactions to date.
Aspex’s expanding position — now standing at roughly 14% — establishes the firm as a significant influencer within Delivery Hero’s shareholder structure.
The investment firm’s ongoing pressure on Delivery Hero’s chief executive to either divest additional assets or resign introduces another dimension to the potential evolution of the company’s leadership and strategic direction.
Prosus operates as an Amsterdam-listed technology investment company with a diverse portfolio spanning global technology enterprises.
Delivery Hero, with headquarters in Berlin, manages food delivery operations across numerous international markets.
The agreed transaction price of €22 per share and the resulting €335 million in proceeds for Prosus represent the principal financial elements of Monday’s announced deal.
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