(Reuters) -Taiwan has blocked Uber Technologies’ $950 million purchase of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda business on the island because of anti-competition concerns, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Wednesday.
Uber, Delivery Hero and Foodpanda did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission declined comment but said it will provide an explanation at a press conference at 5 p.m. (0900 GMT) in Taipei.
CNA did not say where it obtained the information.
Uber and Delivery Hero announced the Taiwan deal in May, which also included a separate agreement for Uber to purchase $300 million worth of newly issued shares of the German food delivery firm.
The U.S. company expected the acquisition to contribute at least $150 million annually to the adjusted core profit of its delivery business within a year of the deal’s closing, which was seen likely in the first half of 2025.
Online food delivery platforms represent a small fraction of Taiwan’s competitive food delivery market, but Foodpanda’s operations on the island were break-even in terms of adjusted core earnings for the 12 months ended March 31, 2024, the companies said.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Raju Gopalakrishnan)