UK Competition Watchdog Opens Investigation Into Amazon's Deliveroo Investment -- Update
October 16 2019 - 7:10AM
Dow Jones News
(Adds Deliveroo response)
By Adria Calatayud
The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority said Wednesday that
it has launched a phase 1 investigation into Amazon.com Inc.'s
(AMZN) investment in U.K. food-delivery company Deliveroo.
The regulator said it is considering whether the deal will
result in a relevant merger situation under U.K. rules and, if so,
whether that might be expected to hurt competition in the U.K.
It said the deadline for its phase 1 decision is Dec. 11.
The CMA said in July that it was considering to refer Amazon's
investment in Deliveroo--officially called Roofoods Ltd.--for an
investigation and served an initial enforcement order in relation
to the deal, which limited the extent to which the two companies
could integrate their operations while the regulator examined the
transaction.
Deliveroo in May said it had raised $575 million in a funding
round led by Amazon, in which the U.S. tech giant became one of the
biggest investors in the London-based startup.
In response to the CMA, a Deliveroo spokesperson said the
company is cooperating fully with the regulator.
"This minority investment will help to create jobs, help
restaurants to grow their businesses, improve choice for consumers
and enhance competition in the U.K. food-delivery sector," the
spokesperson said.
Amazon declined to comment when contacted by Dow Jones
Newswires.
Write to Adria Calatayud at
adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 16, 2019 06:55 ET (10:55 GMT)
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