Just Eat senior executive Jörg Gerbig quits amid misconduct investigation | Food & drink industry

Just Eat Takeaway is facing boardroom turmoil after a senior executive stepped down amid an investigation by the courier group into a formal complaint regarding misconduct at a company event.

The board of Just Eat said it would not be putting Jörg Gerbig, its chief operating officer, forward for re-election at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, as it was set to engage an “external expert” to conduct an investigation into “possible personal misconduct”.

The group’s chairman, Adriaan Nühn, also announced plans to stand down shortly before the group’s annual shareholder meeting, as the delivery firm faces anger from shareholders over a botched takeover deal and heavy losses.

The company said an investigation into the complaint against Gerbig, which it said was “not related to financial or reporting obligations”, was already in an initial stage and no conclusions had been drawn.

Just Eat said the confidential nature of its policy for whistleblowers and “the requirement for a thorough process, recognising the privacy and interests of all involved” meant “no additional information can be provided at this time”.

Gerbig is fully cooperating with the investigation and has informed Just Eat’s board that he has “full confidence in the outcome”.

He will cease to be a member of the group’s management board from the close of the group’s annual meeting on Wednesday, and Just Eat said it would provide a further update on the investigation “if and when appropriate”.

Nühn also unexpectedly announced plans to stand down as he admitted “it is clear that shareholders have concerns about the challenges the company is facing”.

Just Eat is facing a shareholder revolt at its annual meeting after revealing declining orders and plans to sell off all or part of its US-based Grubhub arm, which it bought for $7.3bn in a deal agreed less than two years ago and completed last year. The company recently revealed a pre-tax loss of more than €1.1bn (£916m) for 2021 although it said it was “rapidly progressing towards profitability”.

Just Eat’s second largest shareholder, the US fund Cat Rock, has called for a shake-up of the company’s board saying there had been a “complete loss of trust” by investors as the value of their shares has dived by about 75% in two years.

In an open letter to other shareholders, Cat Rock called for them to block the re-election of Just Eat’s chief finance officer and replace its supervisory board to “restore credibility with the capital markets” and “quickly refocus the business on Europe”.