The much-talked-about purchase of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda delivery business by competitor Uber Technologies was blocked by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the trade watchdog organisation of Taiwan. It was first reported by the Central News Agency (CNA) on the island, and later confirmed by the commission.
Uber Eats announced on May 14 that it intended to acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan delivery business. This move involving the island’s two major food delivery players sent shockwaves across the region, and the consideration of USD 950 million invited international attention.
The FTC decided to look deeper into the aspects of market concentration and competition in light of public concern on December 9. However, it was understood that a meeting on Wednesday morning reportedly resulted in a resolution to block the proposed deal.
While Uber suggested earlier in a statement that it was ready to meet the commission’s conditions in order to secure the deal, the FTC decided that competition concerns were too high, according to CNA.
The deal, announced in May, also pointed to NYSE-listed Uber acquiring USD 300 million of newly issued stock of Frankfurt exchange-listed Delivery Hero.
If the deal had gone through, “Foodpanda’s local consumers, merchants, and delivery partners [would have been] transitioned to Uber Eats”, according to the Delivery Hero announcement earlier this year.
The FTC looked into the deal especially in light of the fact that it would have been “one of the largest ever international acquisitions in Taiwan, outside of the semiconductor industry.”
Uber expected at least USD 150 million to be added to its adjusted core profit per year with the acquisition.
