Glovo and Delivery Hero under European Commission’s magnifying glass

Brussels – Spanish food delivery giant Glovo is under special surveillance in Brussels. The European Commission has formally started an investigation into whether the platform, acquired in 2022 by the Germans of Delivery Hero, has violated EU competition rules by constituting a kind of cartel in the online food delivery sector.

Delivery Hero and Glovo are two of Europe’s largest food delivery companies. The former is present in more than 70 countries worldwide and collaborates with more than 500 thousand restaurants. The latter, which had sales of more than €150 million in 2023, is present in more than 1,300 cities in 25 countries around the world. Delivery Hero held a minority stake in Glovo as early as 2018 but acquired sole control in July 2022.

As early as June 2022, and a second time in November 2023, the European Commission had carried out unannounced inspections at the headquarters of Delivery Hero and Glovo. In Brussels, they suspect that, before the acquisition, the two companies may have been sharing geographic markets and shared commercially sensitive information. Through the partnership, albeit with a minority share, of Delivery Hero with Glovo as early as 2018, the two would have exchanged business strategies, prices, capacities, costs, and product features. The Commission is also concerned that the companies may have agreed not to steal each other’s employees.

“If confirmed, such behaviour could constitute a violation of EU competition rules, with potential negative effects on prices and choice for consumers and opportunities for workers,” warned Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission. The investigation is part of a more general effort by the EU executive to regulate a “young and dynamic” market such as online delivery. In March this year, after repeated boycotts by several EU countries, a directive was adopted  to protect the nearly 30 million riders and digital platform workers in the EU.