Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has halted Uber Technologies' proposed $950m acquisition of Delivery Hero's Foodpanda operations, citing concerns over potential anti-competitive effects in the market.
The regulator said that even with corrective measures, the competition concerns raised by the merger would not be sufficiently addressed, according to Reuters.
Taiwan FTC vice-chairman Chen Chih-min was quoted by the news agency as saying: "In the food delivery platform market, UberEats' main competitive pressure comes from Foodpanda. The merger would eliminate this competitive pressure.
"Post-merger, UberEats would be less constrained by competition, giving it more incentive to raise prices for consumers and even increase commissions for restaurant operators."
Additionally, Chen stated that after the merger, the combined market share of both companies in Taiwan would surpass 90%.
In May this year, Uber Eats agreed to purchase the Foodpanda delivery business in Taiwan from Delivery Hero for $950m.
Uber and Delivery Hero also reached a separate agreement, under which Uber would acquire $300m worth of newly issued common shares from Delivery Hero.
Under the terms of the agreement, Delivery Hero agreed to continue operating foodpanda Taiwan.
Following the acquisition, foodpanda's local customers, merchants, and delivery partners would be integrated into the Uber Eats platform.
The merger of Uber Eats and Foodpanda was expected to offer broad coverage across Taiwan, with Uber dominating the north and major cities, while Foodpanda excelling in the south and smaller towns.
The acquisition was set to become one of Taiwan's largest international transactions outside the semiconductor industry.
In May this year, Domino's Pizza Canada selected Uber Eats as its exclusive delivery partner in the country.
"Taiwan FTC halts Uber's Foodpanda deal over competition issues" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand.