Amazon, Deliveroo Argue Against UK Antitrust Probe

Britain’s competition probe into Amazon’s minority investment in food delivery service Deliveroo is “speculative” and not grounded in evidence, the two companies argued Wednesday, January 29.

The pair claimed that the Phase 1 investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into Amazon’s stake in the UK start-up failed to provide evidence of existing competition between the firms.

Amazon was the lead investor in Deliveroo’s US$575 million funding round, announced back in May. Its stake, thought to be worth roughly US$500 million, has since been frozen by the regulator as it conducts an investigation into alleged competition concerns raised by the deal.

In a written submission from Amazon and Deliveroo released by the antitrust watchdog on Wednesday, the two companies claimed that the CMA’s probe “does not produce any credible evidence of existing competition” between them and “largely focuses on notional loss of potential future competition.”

“These theories of harm are speculative and not supported by evidence,” the document, which has been heavily redacted in certain sections, continued. “On the contrary, they are directly undermined by the evidence.”

Full Content: CNBC

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