Taiwan blocks Uber’s $950 million Foodpanda deal over competitors issues

(Reuters) -Taiwan has blocked Uber Applied sciences (NYSE:UBER)’ $950 million buy of Supply Hero’s Foodpanda enterprise on the island due to issues it could be anti-competitive, the Truthful Commerce Fee (FTC) mentioned on Wednesday.

Uber and Foodpanda didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark outdoors common enterprise hours.

Supply Hero mentioned in a press release Uber might both enchantment the fee’s choice or terminate the acquisition.

In a media briefing, the fee mentioned the merger’s unfavorable affect would outweigh the general financial advantages, and corrective measures wouldn’t be capable of handle the competitors issues.

“Within the meals supply platform market, UberEats’ principal aggressive stress comes from Foodpanda. The merger would get rid of this aggressive stress,” Chen Chih-min, vice chairman of Taiwan’s FTC, mentioned.

“Put up-merger, UberEats can be much less constrained by competitors, giving it extra incentive to boost costs for customers and even enhance commissions for restaurant operators.”

Chen added that post-merger, the mixed market share of each corporations in Taiwan would exceed 90%.

Uber and Supply Hero introduced in Could the Taiwan deal that included a separate settlement for Uber to buy $300 million value of newly issued shares of the German meals supply agency. 

The U.S. firm anticipated the acquisition to contribute at the least $150 million yearly to the adjusted core revenue of its supply enterprise inside a yr of the deal’s closing, which was seen probably within the first half of 2025.

On-line meals supply platforms symbolize a small fraction of Taiwan’s aggressive meals supply market. Foodpanda’s operations on the island had been break-even by way of adjusted core earnings for the 12 months ended March 31, 2024, the businesses mentioned.