Deliveroo founder Will Shu sells £47m in shares to pay tax bill

The founder of Deliveroo, Will Shu, has sold £47 million of stock in the company to pay off a tax liability.

The takeaway delivery app business confirmed in a filing on Thursday morning that Mr Shu and the firm’s chief financial officer, Adam Miller, both sold shares to satisfy tax bills.

Mr Miller sold close to £2 million worth of Class A shares, the company said.

Mr Shu, who is also chief executive officer of Deliveroo, sold 16.9 million shares at 278p each, representing a 4% discount against Wednesday’s closing price.

As part of the conditions attached to their stakes in the business, both Mr Shu and Mr Miller were required to sell the shares to settle tax liabilities, but will both be rewarded with new shares.

The founder was handed more than £62.5 million in stock under the terms of his share agreement.

Meanwhile, Mr Miller was handed £2.3 million in stock as part of the process.

In a statement, Deliveroo stressed that “neither Will Shu nor Adam Miller will retain any net proceeds as a result of the proposed transaction”.

The sale took place using exemptions to the lock-up on the executives’ shares following its initial public offering (IPO) earlier this year, which stops original shareholders selling stock within a year of the float.

Shares in the company have struggled since its 390p per share launch on the London Stock Exchange in March.

Shares in the company briefly recovered to their float price in August, but have fallen once again in recent months.

The shares fell by 8.1% to 266.5p after early trading on Thursday.