Uber Terminates Foodpanda Taiwan Acquisition

Uber has decided to terminate its agreement to acquire Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan and will pay a termination fee of around $250 million (€230.2 million), the food delivery company said.

Uber said in an emailed statement that it would not appeal the decision of the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission.

Taiwan had in February blocked Uber’s $950 million (€874.7 million) purchase of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda business on the island because of concerns it would be anti-competitive.

Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission said in December that the buyout of Uber’s main rival, Foodpanda, would increase their combined market share to 90% on the island and could incentivise Uber to raise prices in the market.

Taiwan Deal

In May 2024, Uber and Delivery Hero announced the Taiwan deal, which included a separate agreement for Uber to purchase $300 million worth of newly issued shares of the German food delivery firm.

Delivery Hero told Reuters that the termination of the Taiwan acquisition does not affect the share purchase agreement.

Food delivery platforms in Asia have largely rebounded from a post-pandemic slowdown, but the companies are grappling with intense competition and thin margins as they spend heavily on discounts to retain cost-conscious customers.

In February of this year, the German online takeaway food company reported stronger-than-expected growth for the fourth quarter, aided by strong order development and increasing basket size on its platform.

Quarterly gross merchandise value (GMV), which measures the total value of all goods sold, grew 8.2% to €12.81 billion ($13.37 billion), beating analysts’ average forecast of €12.31 billion.