Alex Trelinski
FOOD delivery firm Glovo and its parent company, Delivery Hero, have been fined €329 million by the European Commission for operating a cartel.
They carved up areas where they operated, avoided poaching each others employees, and swapped sensitive information.
The fine follows a probe where the Commission searched the offices of both companies who did cooperate in the investigation.
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Due to that cooperation, the amount of the penalty was reduced by 20%.
It was regarded as landmark investigation to look into a cartel operating in the labour market and the anti-competitive use of a minority stake in a firm.
That stake applied to Delivery Hero’s investment in Glovo before it purchased it outright.
The cartel ran between 2018 and 2022 and was even written into a contract signed by Delivery Hero to become a Glovo shareholder.
Clauses included prohibiting each firm from ‘poaching’ staff from each other, exchange of data on prices, capacities, costs and strategies.
They also worked out their presence in the European Economic Area to avoid competing between themselves or entering the same market at the same time.
“Delivery Hero reiterates its commitment to continue a culture of regulatory compliance throughout its organisation and to operate in a responsible and ethical manner in a highly competitive sector,” the company said in a statement.
