Recently, Taiwanese authorities blocked Grab’s acquisition of FoodPanda Taiwan. It has now been revealed that the acquisition was blocked due to Uber’s equity stake in Grab.
In Taiwan, FoodPanda competes with Uber Eats. If Grab were to acquire FoodPanda’s operations there, it would effectively mean that Uber would dominate the market—a scenario that could be detrimental to both the market and consumers. This is because Uber holds a 13.1% stake in Grab.
Consequently, the acquisition was blocked.
However, a detail that may have been overlooked is that Uber is currently in the process of acquiring Delivery Hero, the parent company of FoodPanda. During that earlier acquisition process, FoodPanda’s operations in the Taiwanese market were excluded. It remains unclear whether this will change, given that Grab’s attempt to purchase FoodPanda Taiwan was unsuccessful.
