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Delivery Hero headquarters in Berlin (archive image)
Photo: FABRIZIO BENSCH / REUTERS
EU competition watchdogs have searched the offices of the food delivery service Delivery Hero in Berlin on suspicion of cartel formation.
The international company announced that the company was working fully with the EU Commission.
The searches do not mean that Delivery Hero actually violated competition law, nor do they prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
The EU antitrust authorities had previously stated that they had searched various food and grocery delivery services in two EU countries on suspicion of cartel formation.
Neither names nor countries were mentioned.
Delivery Hero only completed the takeover of Spanish competitor Glovo on Monday.
Glovo could not immediately be reached for comment.
A spokesman for the Federal Cartel Office confirmed to the Reuters news agency that the Bonn authority assisted the EU Commission on June 27 with an inspection in the field of online delivery services.
In addition to Delivery Hero, the largest providers in the EU include the Lieferando owner Just Eat Takeaway.com, Uber Eats and Wolt from DoorDash.
With the exception of Delivery Hero, all companies said they had not been searched.
This was also explained by the fast food delivery services Gorillas and Flink.
Companies that have violated EU competition rules face fines of up to ten percent of their annual turnover.
dab/Reuters