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UK – Competition watchdog pauses Amazon and Deliveroo deal (The Guardian)

08 July 2019

The UK’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, has ordered Amazon and the human cloud food courier Deliveroo to pause any integration efforts pending an investigation into potential breaches of competition rules, reports The Guardian. The initial enforcement order against the companies comes after Amazon bought a stake in Deliveroo. The order is preliminary to a decision, with no set deadline, on whether to launch a full merger inquiry. The CMA said it had “reasonable grounds for suspecting” that Amazon and Roofoods, which trades as Deliveroo, have “ceased to be distinct” or were planning to merge, which would break competition rules. The CMA’s order means that Deliveroo will be banned from taking any actions that could lead to its integration into Amazon’s business while the regulator makes its decision. Amazon was the biggest investor in Deliveroo's latest round of fund raising, which in total raised over £450 million.