The European Union has imposed a hefty fine totaling €329 million on the German food delivery firm Delivery Hero and its Spanish subsidiary Glovo for breaching antitrust regulations.
According to EU investigators, from 2018 to 2022, Delivery Hero exploited its stake in Glovo to suppress competition. The companies allegedly exchanged confidential business data, agreed not to recruit each other’s staff, and split up national food delivery markets among themselves.
Although Delivery Hero has owned 94% of Glovo since July 2022, the EU’s formal investigation — initiated last year — centres on activities that occurred before it assumed full control.
Both firms are among Europe’s largest delivery platforms, offering restaurant meals, groceries and various other products ordered via apps and websites.
The European Commission, which oversees competition policy across the bloc, stated that the companies admitted their roles in the cartel and consented to pay the fines as part of a settlement.
‘Cartels like this reduce choice for consumers and business partners, reduce opportunities for employees and reduce incentives to compete and innovate,’ the Commission noted.
Delivery Hero has been fined €223 million, while Glovo is required to pay roughly €106 million, as outlined by the Commission.
‘This case is important because these practices were facilitated through an anticompetitive use of Delivery Hero’s minority stake in Glovo,’ said EU competition chief Teresa Ribera.
Among the violations, the companies had agreed not to actively recruit one another’s employees. Initially, this arrangement applied to managers but was later extended to all staff, including logistics personnel.
However, the agreement excluded delivery riders, who were not considered employees at the time, as they were classified as self-employed.
This marks the first time the Commission has identified a cartel involving labour market practices, and Ribera stressed that it’s ‘also the first time the Commission is sanctioning a no-poach agreement, where companies stop competing for the best talent and reduce opportunities for workers’.
The firms also shared competitively sensitive information, such as pricing and cost details, via email and WhatsApp. Officials allegedly used these channels to coordinate market entry strategies.
According to the Commission, the companies agreed not to enter markets where the other was already active and to coordinate who would move into new markets where neither yet had a presence.
By July 2020, the companies had essentially stopped competing altogether, deliberately avoiding overlapping operations and thereby limiting choices for consumers and potentially inflating prices.
Delivery Hero has acknowledged the settlement with the Commission, stating that it had already set aside funds in anticipation of the penalty.
‘Today’s settlement allows Delivery Hero to address the European Commission’s concerns while allowing stakeholders to move on swiftly,’ the company said in a release.
Currently, Delivery Hero operates in over 70 countries, including 16 in the European Economic Area (EEA), which comprises the EU’s 27 member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Glovo, now under Delivery Hero’s ownership, maintains operations in more than 20 countries, with eight located within the EEA.
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