Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission denied Grab Holdings' plan to acquire Foodpanda's Taiwan operations following an antitrust review, announcing the decision Wednesday. The commission said it met with the companies to consider potential remedies, but concluded the offers did not adequately address competition issues.
Grab - a Singapore-based operator that leads ride hailing and delivery services in Southeast Asia - has been looking to grow in Taiwan, an economy of roughly 23 million people, as it seeks expansion outside a fiercely competitive home market. The company has also seen sales slow dramatically as it prioritizes profitability. Foodpanda's parent, Germany's Delivery Hero SE, has been under investor pressure to pursue a sale or divestments to streamline its business. In early trading, Delivery Hero fell 0.8% in Frankfurt, while Grab advanced about 0.7% before markets opened in New York.
Expanding past ride-hailing, Grab last month struck a $1.49 billion deal for a majority stake in Atome Financial, a buy-now-pay-later provider, and earlier this year purchased Stash Financial at a $425 million enterprise value. Morningstar analyst Kai Wang estimated Foodpanda Taiwan would have increased Grab's delivery gross merchandise value by about 13% and added $60 million to 2028 adjusted EBITDA - profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - with Grab targeting $1.7 billion for that year. "This will only make a minor dent to Grab's overall operations," Wang said.
"We are disappointed by this outcome," Grab said in a statement. "Grab's core business across Southeast Asia remains robust. We will continue to focus our capital and resources on executing our growth roadmap and empowering communities across our regional footprint."
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