Grab's Acquisition of foodpanda Taiwan: Fair Trade Commission States Supplementary Documents Still Pending Review

(CNA Reporter Pan Tzu-yu, Taipei 23rd) Southeast Asian ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab submitted an application to the Fair Trade Commission on March 27 to acquire foodpanda's Taiwan business. Chen Chih-min, acting chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, stated that it is currently in the stage of supplementing documents, and formal review will only begin once the documents are complete. The Commission will carefully evaluate whether the cross-company shareholding, which the public is concerned about, poses competition issues.

Grab previously announced it would acquire foodpanda's Taiwan business for approximately US$600 million (about NT$19.3 billion). If the Fair Trade Commission approves the review, Grab expects to complete the transaction in the second half of 2026, and plans to complete the platform integration in the first half of 2027, fully transferring former foodpanda users to the Grab application.

However, Uber is Grab's largest institutional shareholder, holding about a 13% stake. Now that Grab is acquiring foodpanda in Taiwan, it has raised concerns about "roundabout" investments.

Chen Chih-min attended the Legislative Yuan's Economics Committee today, where legislators from both the ruling and opposition parties paid close attention to Grab's acquisition of foodpanda Taiwan. Chen Chih-min said that during the Fair Trade Commission's review, they will pay attention to issues such as behind-the-scenes equity and cross-shareholding. However, the law does not prohibit transnational shareholding, so if the Commission questions it on these grounds, there must be concrete evidence, including whether the business has restricted competition through cross-shareholding in the past.

Legislators expressed concern that the Commission's review focuses on market share, and whether it will pay attention to the rights and interests of workers and consumers. Chen Chih-min stated that taking labor issues as an example, the Ministry of Labor has its own focus of concern, while the Fair Trade Commission returns to the market competition mechanism for review. It may define the labor demand market to observe the supply and demand between the platform and labor supply. It also focuses on labor issues, but the review focus is on the market competition mechanism, which is different from the Ministry of Labor's duties.

Legislators also care that this case involves a wide range of aspects and should balance the rights and interests of workers, consumers, and merchants.

Chen Chih-min said that the nature of the platform economy is special, and participants are both symbiotic and have potential conflicts of interest. During the review process, the Fair Trade Commission will consult the opinions of other ministries and departments, proceeding in a manner of substantive cross-ministerial cooperation.

Regarding the subsequent review schedule, Chen Chih-min explained that there is no time limit set for supplementing documents. As long as the data is complete, the Fair Trade Commission will formally accept and conduct the review. In principle, it will be completed within 30 working days. If necessary, it can be extended for 60 days, up to a maximum of 90 working days. (Editor: Chang Chun-mao) 1150423