Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday blocked Grab Holdings' $600 million purchase of Delivery Hero's Foodpanda business in Taiwan, pointing to the Singapore-based super app's equity and board ties to Uber, which operates the island's other leading food delivery platform.
"The equity ties, overlapping board membership and history of business cooperation between Grab and Uber would reduce Grab's incentive and ability to compete with Uber Eats in Taiwan," Shin Chih-chung, an FTC commissioner, said.
Grab expressed disappointment with the decision. "We are disappointed by this outcome, as we will not be able to pursue our mission to serve Taiwanese consumers, delivery riders, and merchants with the innovation, fair-earning opportunities, and enhanced service standards we had planned to bring to the market," Grab said in a statement.
Uber Eats and foodpanda are Taiwan's two dominant food delivery platforms. Uber abandoned Southeast Asia in 2018, but it has a 13.1% stake in Grab. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi held a seat on Grab's board until July, when he stepped down to smooth the latter's acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan. At the time, Grab said the board change "further underscores Grab's commitment to maintaining a robust and independent governance framework in connection with the proposed acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan's business."
If the deal had gone ahead, Taiwan would have become Grab's ninth market and its first outside Southeast Asia. The deal drew concern from legislators and delivery drivers, who worried about reduced competition. On Oct. 12, Grab said it had focused on getting to know the Taiwanese market and that the question before regulators was whether Taiwan wanted to end up with one platform or two that could compete effectively.
Taiwanese regulators blocked a previous deal involving Foodpanda in 2024, when they blocked Uber's attempt to buy Foodpanda's Taiwan operations due to competition concerns.
Taiwan has emerged as a new battleground for delivery and e-commerce companies. Coupang, a U.S.-based e-commerce company, has made Taiwan one of its biggest markets outside South Korea, opening its fourth fulfillment center there in March. Its next-day delivery service now covers about 70% of the island. Coupang says it is one of the largest U.S. investors in Taiwan. Shopee, owned by Singapore-based Sea Limited, also has extensive operations in Taiwan.