Key Highlights
- Delivery Hero shares climbed more than 7% following Prosus’s announcement of a 5% stake sale to Aspex Management
- Transaction priced at €22 per share — representing approximately 10% above Friday’s closing price and 22% over the 30-day VWAP
- Prosus set to receive around €335 million (~$395 million) in gross proceeds
- Transaction fulfills partial EU antitrust obligations linked to Prosus’s Just Eat Takeaway acquisition
- Post-transaction, Aspex will hold approximately 14% of Delivery Hero, while Prosus retains roughly 17% — exceeding required divestment levels
Shares of Delivery Hero (DHER) climbed over 7% during Monday’s trading session after Prosus revealed plans to divest a 5% ownership position in the Berlin-based food delivery giant to Hong Kong investment firm Aspex Management.
The transaction values shares at €22 each. This pricing reflects approximately a 10% markup compared to Delivery Hero’s Friday closing value, and stands 22% above the company’s 30-day volume-weighted average trading price.
Prosus anticipates generating gross cash proceeds totaling roughly €335 million, equivalent to approximately $395 million USD.
Aspex currently ranks as Delivery Hero’s second-biggest investor. The firm has actively pressured company leadership to accelerate asset divestments or consider executive changes.
Once completed, this transaction will elevate Aspex’s ownership percentage to approximately 14% of Delivery Hero’s outstanding shares.
Meanwhile, Prosus will reduce its position to roughly 17% — a figure that remains significantly above the regulatory target mandated by European regulators.
European Commission Requirements Mandate Stake Reductions
This divestment stems directly from regulatory obligations imposed by the European Commission. Last August, EU authorities greenlit Prosus’s acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway, contingent upon Prosus reducing its Delivery Hero ownership below 10% before late summer this year.
When that approval occurred, Prosus controlled approximately 27% of Delivery Hero shares. Meeting the EC’s sub-10% mandate requires substantially more divestment activity ahead.
This marks Prosus’s second significant Delivery Hero stake sale within recent months.
During April, Prosus divested a 4.5% position to Uber Technologies for €270 million. The current Aspex agreement carries comparable per-share pricing to that earlier transaction.
Additional Stake Sales Expected Before Deadline
Combined, the Uber and Aspex transactions have trimmed Prosus’s Delivery Hero stake from roughly 27% down to approximately 17%.
To satisfy the European Commission’s sub-10% requirement ahead of the late summer cutoff, Prosus must divest a minimum additional 7% ownership stake in Delivery Hero.
This indicates further stake disposals are virtually certain, although Prosus hasn’t publicly disclosed specific plans for additional transactions.
Aspex’s expanded position — now approaching 14% — establishes the firm as a dominant voice among Delivery Hero’s shareholder constituency.
The Hong Kong-based investor’s ongoing campaign pressuring Delivery Hero’s chief executive regarding strategic asset sales or leadership transitions introduces additional complexity to the company’s corporate governance landscape.
Prosus operates as an Amsterdam-listed technology investment company maintaining diverse holdings across international technology enterprises.
Delivery Hero, with headquarters in Berlin, manages food delivery operations spanning numerous global markets.
The €22 per-share pricing structure and resulting €335 million proceeds represent the core financial parameters of Monday’s announced transaction.
