The European Commission will impose fines totalling €329 million on Delivery Hero and Glovo, two major players in the European online meal and grocery delivery market, for engaging in anti-competitive practices, it announced in a statement on Monday.
Both companies have acknowledged the illicit practices and agreed to a settlement with the Commission. Delivery Hero will pay a fine of €223.3 million, while Glovo will pay €105.7 million.
Delivery Hero, which is based in Germany and operates under different names in different countries, is one of the biggest global actors in the food delivery market, alongside Uber and other firms. It took control of Glovo, which is headquartered in Spain, in July 2022 after being a minority shareholder in it for four years.
From July 2018 to July 2022, the two companies operated as a cartel, the Commission said, gradually removing competitive constraints from their relationship, and establishing a multiple anti-competitive coordination.
An important element of this coordination was an agreement not to poach each other’s employees, signed when Delivery Hero acquired a minority share of the rival company. This was a type of non-agression agreement that soon extended to all categories of workers,
Delivery Hero’s presence in Glovo’s shareholding and board of directors allegedly facilitated the exchange of sensitive information, such as production capacities, distribution network organisation, and costs. According to an EU source, this exchange potentially led the companies to align their strategies and market conduct.
The Commission highlighted the unprecedented nature of the case: it is the first time it has identified the existence of a labour market cartel and penalised the anti-competitive use of a minority shareholding in a rival company.
