Just Eat to ditch London listing in bid to cut costs

Just Eat Takeaway is set to abandon its listing on the London Stock Exchange in a bid to cut costs and complexity, in the latest blow to the UK’s markets.

The delivery giant wants its shares to keep trading on the Amsterdam stock market, the city where it is based.

The company said it had considered the impact of having a main market listing in Amsterdam and a secondary listing in London.

It cited the “administrative burden, complexity and costs” associated with keeping its shares in London for its decision to quit, as well as low liquidity and trading volumes of its shares.

Earlier this month, Just Eat revealed it had sold its US business Grubhub for a significant loss, more than two years after first announcing plans to offload the firm.

It bought the business during the pandemic-fuelled boom in takeaways and in a bid to access the US food delivery market.

Just Eat said its delisting is expected to take effect from December 27.

A spokeswoman for the company said the decision to delist came as it looked at “enhancing efficiencies”, adding: “The majority of our trading volumes happen at our primary listing venue on the Euronext Amsterdam.”

It added: “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.”

The London Stock Exchange has been knocked by a number of firms being bought out or defecting abroad in recent years.

Paddy Power owner Flutter moved its main stock market listing to New York while German-owned Tui ditched its London listing and remained on the Frankfurt stock market.

In another blow, UK chip maker Arm Holdings chose Wall Street over London for its stock market return.

Other companies like Superdry and Nightcap have quit the London markets this year in order to go private.