Uber Technologies announced on Tuesday that it has terminated its acquisition of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda in Taiwan. The move follows a decision by Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to block the deal due to concerns about competition. According to the FTC, the acquisition would have given Uber Eats a 90% market share in Taiwan’s food delivery market, potentially leading to price increases for consumers.
Uber Eats and Foodpanda are the dominant players in Taiwan’s food delivery industry, with Foodpanda holding a 52% share of the market between January 2022 and August 2023, while Uber Eats claimed 48%. Smaller players such as Foodomo and various fast-food delivery apps represent only a small fraction of the market.
Under the agreement signed in May 2024, Uber is required to pay a termination fee of approximately $250 million. The companies did not appeal the FTC’s decision, and the deadline for doing so expired on March 10, 2025, according to Delivery Hero’s spokesperson.
Uber’s Strategy and the Southeast Asian Market
Uber had initially hoped to complete the acquisition by mid-2025, with the plan to expand its presence in Taiwan as part of a broader strategy to grow Uber Eats in Asia. Additionally, Uber and Delivery Hero had entered into a separate deal for Uber to purchase $300 million in newly issued shares of Delivery Hero. The cancellation of the Foodpanda acquisition will not impact this share purchase, as confirmed by Delivery Hero.
The deal’s termination also signals Delivery Hero’s continued pullback from the Southeast Asian market. The company had attempted to sell off several of its operations in the region, including in Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand. However, those talks were called off in September 2023 after months of discussions. Delivery Hero also made significant staffing cuts in its Foodpanda division in preparation for a possible sale, following similar layoffs in previous years.
Delivery Hero, which competes with Grab in Southeast Asia, continues to reevaluate its position in the region. The company’s strategy has seen some shake-ups, with its decision to focus on restructuring its operations amidst ongoing challenges.
What The Author Thinks
While the end of this acquisition may seem like a setback for Uber and Delivery Hero, the regulatory action taken by Taiwan’s FTC is a step in the right direction for protecting consumers and maintaining healthy competition. Dominating 90% of a market could lead to monopolistic behavior, which would ultimately harm both consumers and smaller competitors. It’s crucial that regulators continue to scrutinize these massive acquisitions to ensure that companies don’t gain too much power at the expense of fair competition.
