According to a report by NST, Delivery Hero-owned foodpanda could be sold as soon as December this year. As reported back in September, Grab, which previously took over Uber’s ASEAN operations, could pay a little more than one billion euros (around RM5 billion) for the foodpanda Asian unit.
Within Southeast Asia, foodpanda’s Malaysian operation is one of seven, with others being Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. In each of these markets, the online food delivery platform commands a sizeable market share of between 30-40%.
That’s considerable as it makes foodpanda the second largest food delivery company in Southeast Asia. However, news of the potential acquisition of foodpanda by Grab have raised concerns that the Singapore-based company Grab would create a monopoly in the p-hailing (delivery of food, drinks and parcels).
Some netizens are against the idea entirely, while others claim there is nothing wrong for business to want to increase their profits, but agree that monopolies are bad for consumers. There are even calls for Shopee or AirAsia to buy foodpanda as these platforms also offer food delivery services.
Speaking to NST, Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) economist Dr Shankaran Nambiar said a sale to Grab is a matter for Malaysia Competition Commission’s (MyCC) consideration. He added that there is a possible danger that Grab could achieve a monopoly through such an acquisition.
“However, if Grab does not in any way reduce competition, increase entry barriers and raise prices, then Grab cannot be held responsible for abusing its position. We do have a competition policy and competition laws. If there is anything to be done, it would be to empower MyCC further,” explained Shankaran.
What say you? How do you feel about Grab’s potential acquisition of foodpanda? Will this create a monopoly that reduces consumer power? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
The post Grab to buy over foodpanda in Malaysia by next month – should we be concerned of a possible monopoly? appeared first on Paul Tan’s Automotive News.
