Amazon/Deliveroo

In August 2020, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) cleared Amazon's minority investment in Deliveroo, after a Phase II investigation. The CMA stated Deliveroo is active in the online restaurant delivery and, in addition, delivers convenience groceries through partnerships with retailers. It found Amazon’s activities to include operating as an online retailer as well as being active in the online restaurant delivery market up until November 2018. 

The CMA initially provisionally cleared the transaction concluding that Deliveroo could be considered a 'failing firm' due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business. However, in light of the speedy recovery of the restaurant food delivery market and after reviewing Deliveroo's financial position in April 2020, the CMA concluded that it would resume its substantive assessment of the transaction, and no longer consider Deliveroo as a failing firm. The CMA ultimately found that the minority investment of 16% will not substantially lessen competition in the relevant markets.

Compass Lexecon assisted Roofoods (trading as Deliveroo) during the CMA investigation of Amazon's investment in Deliveroo. We prepared replies to the CMA's RFI and made a review of the competitiveness of the online restaurant delivery market in the UK. More specifically, while using information on all of Deliveroo’s transactions since 2016, we provided an analysis of the Parties' grocery offerings, and we prepared, conducted, and analyzed a survey of Deliveroo customers.

The Compass Lexecon team included Neil Dryden, Stefano Trento, Segye Shin, Gwilhem Charbonnier, Su-Ann Lim, and Felix Giallombardo, with assistance from Jorge Padilla, Alejandro Requejo, John Davies, Patricia Lorenzo, Lotta Vaananen, and Rashid Muhamedrahimov.