Amazon's £442m investment in Deliveroo slammed by Just Eat

The CMA is expected to make a permanent decision regarding the deal in June.

Just Eat has questioned the competition watchdog’s “U-turn” decision to give the go-ahead to Amazon’s £442m investment in Deliveroo during the coronavirus crisis.

The delivery platform, which was acquired by Dutch firm Takeaway.com earlier this year, said it was “concerned by the very sudden U-turn in the Competition and Market Authority’s decision making.”

The watchdog gave the provisional green light, warning that Deliveroo could collapse without additional investment as restaurants were closed during the coronavirus crisis after having initial concerns that it could hurt competition in the UK food delivery market.

The CMA is expected to make a permanent decision in June.

In its submission to the CMA, Just Eat said the pandemic would not cause permanent damage to Deliveroo’s business, pointing out that demand for deliveries of takeaway food and groceries had increased during the coronavirus lockdown.

The delivery firm argued the CMA’s decision must be based on “incorrect or misleading data” or an “extremely narrow” period at the beginning of the crisis.

“While Just Eat Takeaway does not question the very serious and perturbing nature of the Covid-19 crisis, it does not believe that this creates a “carte blanche” to assume permanent, irreversible negative impact on businesses, particularly those who are in the business of delivering food to people at home in circumstances that align with social distancing rules,” it said.