SINGAPORE, April 1 — Singapore’s competition watchdog looked into the likelihood of the now-collapsed talks between Grab Holdings and Delivery Hero, raising worries about competition in the food delivery market, the regulator said today.
Germany’s Delivery Hero had been looking to divest its foodpanda business in some Southeast Asian markets. Media reports from September last year said Singapore-based Grab could be a potential buyer.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said it started investigating this potential tie-up in early January this year.
Grab and foodpanda control about 91 per cent of Singapore’s US$2.5 billion (RM11.8 billion) food delivery market, according to a report by research firm Momentum Works, with Grab alone having a 63 per cent market share.
However, the CCCS closed its investigation on February 23 after Delivery Hero scrapped plans of a potential sale, and Grab said it was not pursuing any such deal. The talks had collapsed in early February, according to media reports.
Grab and Delivery Hero did not immediately respond to Reuters‘ requests for comment.
— Reuters
