Amazon’s Deliveroo investment gets thumbs up from UK regulators

Amazon’s minority investment in Deliveroo won the approval of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved on Tuesday. The deal will give Amazon 16% stake in the UK-based food delivery company, a figure that the CMA believes won’t reduce competition.

“When looking at any merger, the CMA’s role is to assess whether consumers will lose out from a substantial lessening of competition,” Stuart McIntosh, inquiry chair at the CMA, said in a release. “We have not found this to be the case given the scale of Amazon’s current investment, but if it were to increase its shareholding in Deliveroo, that could trigger a further investigation by the CMA.”

The CMA paused Amazon’s investment in the meal-delivery service last year amid concerns that a merger would reduce consumer choice and break competition rules. The decision to clear Amazon’s investment comes a week after CEO Jeff Bezos was questioned by US politicians in an antitrust hearing.

Deliveroo operates all over the UK, as well as in Australia, Germany, the US, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Taiwan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.