EU antitrust regulators have carried out a series of surprise checks on two online food delivery companies based in the bloc. The European Commission did not disclose the name of the company involved, but this move is another surprise inspection after the EU raided Spain's Glovo and Germany's DeliveryHero in July 2022. The two companies later confirmed the inspections.
Last year, the EU said its action was related to concerns about potential breaches of competition law, the creation of monopolies and other restrictive business practices. The European Commission said that the latest inspection is a continuation of the 2022 investigation, and the scope of the investigation has been expanded.
"The scope of the investigation, which initially included alleged market allocations, has been expanded to include additional conduct such as alleged commission-free agreements and the exchange of commercially sensitive information," the Commission said in a release.
Berlin-based DeliveryHero was founded in 2011 and currently operates in about 70 countries around the world. It owns a number of different food delivery and express commerce brands, including several acquired through acquisitions. The latter include Barcelona-based Glovo, a food-focused delivery app and quick commerce platform that was founded in 2014 but joined DeliveryHero in the second half of 2021.
Although this is the second batch of raids on two food delivery companies, the European Commission's public relations department emphasized that such raids are "the first step in investigating suspected anti-competitive behavior". "The Commission's conduct of such inspections does not imply that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behavior, nor does it prejudge the findings themselves," the Commission added.
There is no fixed statutory deadline for completing an anti-competitive conduct investigation. Therefore, it is unclear when the investigation will be concluded or what its outcome will be. It is worth noting, however, that the European Commission has expanded the scope of its investigation.
The EU implements a leniency program for infringing companies that choose to cooperate with antitrust investigations. The EU also provides reporting tools that allow individuals and companies to anonymously report violations of antitrust laws.