Just Eat plc (Just Eat) is one of the main food delivery firms in
the UK market, while Takeaway.com N.V (Takeaway.com) operates in
11 countries overseas, including the Netherlands and Germany, but
has not been active in the UK since exiting in 2016. Both
companies’ platforms link customers to hundreds of restaurants or
food outlets, where they can browse takeaway options and order
online.
As part of its investigation, the Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA) considered information suggesting that
Takeaway.com might have been well-placed to re-enter the UK
market and compete with Just Eat, had the merger not gone ahead.
As there are only a small number of companies that act as the
middle-man between restaurants and customers, re-entry by
Takeaway.com could have given UK customers more choice – and
possibly better value for money or quality of service – when
deciding what to order.
However, after carefully investigating these concerns and
scrutinising large volumes of the two companies’ own internal
business documents, the CMA is satisfied that there is not a
material likelihood that Takeaway.com would have re-entered the
UK in the future, had the merger not gone ahead.
Colin Raftery, Senior Director of Mergers at the CMA, said:
After interrogating how this deal is likely to affect the UK
market, we are satisfied that there are no competition
concerns.
Millions of people in the UK use online food platforms for
takeaways and, where a merger could raise competition concerns,
we have a duty to rigorously investigate whether customers
could lose out. In this case, we carefully considered whether
Takeaway.com could have re-entered the UK market in future,
giving people more choice. It was important we investigated
this properly, but after gathering additional evidence which
indicates this deal will not reduce competition, it is also the
right decision to now clear the merger.
During the Covid-19 outbreak, the CMA is working with businesses
where it can to be flexible – for example, by recognising that
there may be delays in providing the information it needs to
conduct investigations. However, it is also trying to complete
investigations efficiently at this time, wherever possible, to
provide businesses with certainty. In this case, the CMA was able
to publish its final decision 26 days ahead of the statutory
deadline.
For more information, visit the Takeaway.com N.V. / Just
Eat plc merger inquiry web page.
