Deliveroo established in 2013 has received $1.5 billion from venture capital providers.  In May 2019, Amazon invested  $575 million representing a 16 percent share in the food- delivery company.  As with many of the world’s delivery services, Deliveroo has successively posted increased quarterly sales but has experienced significant losses.

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) questioned the investment in Deliveroo by Amazon and initiated a probe with the potential to unravel the deal.  Amazon previously failed to respond to questions raised by the CMA and accordingly a full investigation was announced in mid-December.  It is now up to Deliveroo to convince the CMA that the minority investment by Amazon will not lead to domination of the food-delivery market or distort the restaurant and grocery markets.

Amazon maintains that “home-grown UK business like Deliveroo should have broad access to investors and supporters”.  Amazon believes that their investment “will lead to more pro-customer innovation by helping Deliveroo continue to build its world-class service and remain competitive.”