UK Competition Watchdog Opens Investigation Into Amazon's Deliveroo Investment

   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.

Its 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 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.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 16, 2019 05:31 ET (09:31 GMT)

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