Uber Technologies Inc has terminated its deal to acquire Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, after the local antitrust regulator rejected it in December last year.
Uber is required to pay a termination fee that is estimated to be about US$250 million, Delivery Hero said in a statement on Tuesday.
In a separate statement to Bloomberg News, an Uber spokesman reiterated the company’s disappointment about the Taiwanese regulator’s ruling, but said it respects the decision and would not be pursuing an appeal.
Photo: Lam Yik Fei, Bloomberg
“We remain committed to Taiwan and will continue to serve consumers, merchants and delivery partners there in innovative and competitive ways,” the spokesman said.
Uber announced on May 14 last year that it had reached an agreement to acquire Foodpanda delivery service in Taiwan for US$950 million. The company had aimed to complete the all-cash deal by the first half of this year, but the deal was ultimately rejected by the Fair Trade Commission on Dec. 25 last year on the grounds that it would restrict competition.
The acquisition would have been one of Taiwan’s largest outside of the chip industry and given Uber Eats a market share of more than 90 percent in the country, marking a retreat for Delivery Hero from Asia.
Delivery Hero said in the statement that Taiwan remains a key part of its long-term strategy.
The online delivery industry has seen further consolidation globally as demand has failed to return to COVID-19 pandemic-era growth.
London-based Deliveroo PLC on Monday announced that it was closing its Hong Kong business after weak sales and mounting competition from Foodpanda and Keeta, a subsidiary of Chinese food delivery giant Meituan (美團).
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
RSS