Uber (UBER.US) ends acquisition of Delivery Hero's Taiwan operations after regulatory rejection.

Uber Technologies Inc. has terminated its acquisition of Foodpanda's business in Taiwan, after the country's antitrust regulator rejected the deal in December, Delivery Hero SE said in a statement on Tuesday. The ride-hailing company will pay a termination fee estimated at about $250 million, Delivery Hero said. A spokesperson for Uber said in a statement to media outlets that the company respects the decision and will not appeal the regulator's ruling, reiterating the company's disappointment over the decision. The stock fell 3.6% after the announcement. The spokesperson said: "We remain committed to deepening our presence in the Taiwan market and will continue to serve local consumers, merchants, and delivery partners in innovative and competitive ways." Uber originally planned to complete the $950 million all-cash transaction by the first half of 2025. If the acquisition had been successful, it would have been one of the largest deals outside of the Taiwanese chip industry, marking a strategic retreat for Delivery Hero from the Asian market. Delivery Hero said in a statement that Taiwan remains a key component of its long-term strategy. The integration of the global online delivery industry has been further accelerated due to the failure of demand to recover to pre-pandemic growth levels. Deliveroo Plc, headquartered in London, announced on Monday that it would close its Hong Kong business due to poor sales performance and fierce competition from Foodpanda and the Chinese delivery giant Meituan's subsidiary, KeeTa. In February, Prosus NV agreed to acquire Just Eat Takeaway.com for €4.1 billion (about $4.5 billion), just a few months after Wonder Group Inc. bought Grubhub, headquartered in Chicago, from Just Eat.