German online takeaway food company Delivery Hero DHER.DE and its Spanish business Glovo were raided by European Union antitrust regulators, the companies said on Wednesday 6 July, putting them at risk of hefty fines.
The European Commission said earlier that online food and grocery delivery companies in two EU countries had been raided over concerns they may be in a cartel, but did not name the companies involved or the countries.
"The investigation concerns an alleged agreement or concerted practice to share national markets for the online ordering and delivery of food, groceries and other consumer goods in the European Union," the EU antitrust agency said in a statement.
Delivery Hero said the inspection did not mean the Commission, which acts as the antitrust enforcer in the 27-country bloc, had concluded there had been an actual infringement of competition law.
The company, which said the raids took place at its Berlin office, said it was committed to cooperating fully with the Commission.
Spanish food delivery app Glovo, in which Delivery Hero recently acquired a 94% stake, confirmed the raids and said it was cooperating with the EU agency.
Its Barcelona headquarters were raided last week, Glovo said in an emailed response to a Reuters' query, without providing further details of the operation.
Just Eat Takeaway TKWY.AS, the biggest online food delivery group in the EU, Uber UBER.N, which owns Uber Eats, Deliveroo ROO.L, Estonia's Bolt and grocery services Gorillas and Flink were not involved, spokespeople for these companies said.
U.S. peer Doordash's DASH.N Finnish business Wolt also said it was not involved.
Companies found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules face fines up to 10% of their global turnover.
A spokesperson for Germany's cartel office said it had assisted the European Commission with a review of online delivery services on 27 June.
Doordash's Wolt Says Not Involved In EU Antitrust Raids
The above news followed news that US food delivery firm Doordash's DASH.N Wolt has not been raided by EU antitrust regulators, a Wolt spokesperson said on Wednesday 6 July.
Earlier on Wednesday 6 July, the European Commission said it had raided several online food and grocery delivery firms in two EU countries over concerns that they may be in a cartel, but did not name the companies involved or the countries.
Just Eat Takeaway, Uber Eat Say They Are Not Targets Of EU Cartel Investigation
All of the above news followed news that spokespersons said that Just Eat Takeaway and Uber Eats are not targets of the EU cartel investigation.
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