Just Eat axes London share listing

Just Eat Takeaway is to quit the London stock market in the latest blow to the City’s reputation as a global financial centre.
Europe’s largest food delivery group said its final day of trading on the London Stock Exchange would be Christmas Eve.
The company blamed the “administrative burden, complexity and costs” associated with maintaining a listing in London and also cited liquidity issues and weak trading volumes as part of the reason for its decision.
Just Eat will keep its primary listing in Amsterdam, where it is headquartered.
A spokesman for Just Eat said:“As we deliver our strategy to accelerate growth, we have been looking at enhancing efficiencies and made the decision to delist from our secondary listing venue on the London Stock Exchange. The majority of our trading volumes happen at our primary listing venue on the Euronext Amsterdam.
“The UK continues to be a key market for us, home to many of our talented colleagues and our ever-expanding range of grocery and restaurant partnerships. With our network now covering 97 per cent of the UK population, we remain committed to continuing our investment and cementing our leadership position in the country.”
When the company was formed four years ago from the merger of Just Eat and Takeaway.com, its Dutch rival, its original plan was to scrap its Amsterdam listing. However, when it subsequently agreed a $7.3 billion takeover of Grubhub, an American takeaway delivery business, the requirement to list in the United States made it reconsider.
It listed its American depositary receipts, or ADRs, in June 2021 but after a comprehensive review of its three listings, the company decided to delist from the Nasdaq a year later.
With its exit from the City, Just Eat will be the latest in a growing list of companies moving out of the capital. CRH, the building materials company, shifted its primary listing to New York last year. Flutter Entertainment, the Paddy Power owner, followed, while Tui, the tour operator, abandoned London in favour of its shares being solely listed in Germany.
This month Just Eat revealed that it had finally sold Grubhub for $650 million to the New York-based start-up Wonder, led by the former Walmart executive Marc Lore.
Just Eat received a total of 211.1 million orders in its third quarter, fewer than the 214.2 million analysts had forecast.
Shares in the company slipped 17¼p, or 1.4 per cent, to £12.29 in morning trading on Wednesday in London.