Here’s a thought, as we await confirmation that Takeaway.com will claim victory in the £5.5bn battle for Just Eat. What if Prosus’s head office in Amsterdam is populated by wily dealmakers who take more than a blink-of-an-eye perspective on pumping billions of dollars into "blue-sky" investment opportunities?

And what if CEO Bob van Dijk thought it would be a great idea to up Prosus’s offer for Just Eat simply to goad Takeaway CEO Jitse Groen into hiking, to stratospheric levels, his own offer for the UK food delivery leader? Having done so, Van Dijk could sit back for a year or so, waiting for the merged operation to fall short of unrealistic expectations, and then make an offer for control of the combined entity...

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