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First FreeNow and now Deliveroo. So much for European independence from US companies. It’s a wonder why these sales were approved in this climate.

StopDisinfo910 1y ago
Deliveroo is a UK company. It doesn't matter to the EU. It's also very much non strategic so I don't see why it would be blocked either way.
- graemep 1y ago
  The GP said European, not EU. Its a concern in the UK too.
  - StopDisinfo910 1y ago
    There is no such thing as European independence. Europe is a continent, not a political entity. The EU is a political entity which happens to be reconsidering its independence from the US. The UK very much is not and is kowtowing favours hoping to get a good deal.
    - graemep 1y ago
      Yes, but the comment said "European" nonetheless. "European" describes multiple political entities each of which has similar concerns. The only one of those entities that has actually made any progress towards independence from the US is Russia.
      - prmoustache 1y ago
        I don't think UK has similar concern as the rest of the UE.
        graemep 1y ago
        What they have in common is doing nothing effective.
  - nicoburns 1y ago
    Unfortunately the current UK government has about as much backbone as a jellyfish.
fy20 1y ago
And Wolt.
JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> a wonder why these sales were approved in this climate The EU and UK have no good options at the merger level. If they block the sale, it trashes the start-up ecosystem. If they let it through, an American company buys a local one. The fundamental problem is the paucity of new-firm formation in the EU and UK, the scaling barriers they face that American compeitors don't, and the increased culture of risk-taking in America that lets its firms pay more for acquisitions. The last can't be addressed. The first two probably can by the EU. (The UK is not a viable sovereign entity in these regards.)
- jjallen 1y ago
  Yes as an American who’s loved in Europe for six years or so the risk taking and desire to start and do things a little differently is just night and day more than it is in Europe, generally speaking.
  - bsimpson 1y ago
    I'll never forget how jealous the Dutch coffee shop owner I met was of Americans. Dude worked at a bank - respectable white collar job acc. to his Dutch friends and family. He picked up a passion for coffee and wanted to open his own shop. His loved ones all thought he was nuts to leave a stable job for a maybe. I'm sure there's a degree of that in the US, but we have a lot more "just try stuff" in our cultural myths than the Europeans tend to. Guy felt like his options were keep a job he hates or be disowned by everyone he knows.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - SkyeCA 1y ago
      Perhaps his friends and family were just being reasonable? Leaving banking to start a coffee shop is a drastic, risky move. Passion doesn't pay the bills or fund retirement and I'd legitimately wonder if someone was having a mental health crisis if they told me that was their plan.
mytailorisrich 1y ago
No-one's approval is required apart from the company's board...
- louthy 1y ago
  Not strictly true. In the UK, at least, a sale of a business needs to be signed off by the Cabinet Office if it is considered strategic or a security risk [1]. Unlikely, in the case of Deliveroo, but I went through this exact process and it took about a month or so to get sign off and to be allowed to sell my own company to a foreign buyer (health tech) There’s also monopoly and competition regulation that could stop a sale. [1] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-security-and-investment-act-guidance-on-acquisitions https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-security-and-investment...
  - mytailorisrich 1y ago
    Does any of this apply to Deliveroo, though? The general case is that no approval is needed in the UK to sell a company to anyone. This is a "free country". This was especially a reply to the implied suggestion that there was some sort of political approval process.
    - realityking 1y ago
      The EU’s competition review will likely apply due to DoorDash’s Wolt subsidiary. The criteria is outlined here: https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/mergers/procedures_en https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/mergers/procedures_e... I doubt the EU is going to block it since AFAIk they’re not competing in any country directly against each other.
- toast0 1y ago
  Competition reviews are common, although I don't know enough about the two companies to know if they have high enough market share in any countries where they both operate.
  - 1y ago
pzmarzly 1y ago
FWIW there still are some popular European alternatives left, such as Bolt, Glovo or JustEat
- n4r9 1y ago
  Tangential and anecdotal, but despite supposedly being the UK market leader JustEats is pretty terrible. I've used them twice in as many years and the experience was awful both times. Missing items, meat in vegetarian dishes, late delivery, cold food etc... . You can report issues via the app but have to select one of a generic list of issues and only get a paltry partial refund - think 33% off for an order that was stone cold on arrival. The app doesn't seem to be able to handle more than one issue per order. There is a well-hidden customer service chat but they don't seem to be any more flexible than the ap.
pkaye 1y ago
From what I read Deliveroo was founded by two Americans and they got their VC investments from the US. Its just that they focused their operations in Europe.

StopDisinfo910 1y ago

Deliveroo is a UK company. It doesn't matter to the EU. It's also very much non strategic so I don't see why it would be blocked either way.

graemep 1y ago
The GP said European, not EU. Its a concern in the UK too.
- StopDisinfo910 1y ago
  There is no such thing as European independence. Europe is a continent, not a political entity. The EU is a political entity which happens to be reconsidering its independence from the US. The UK very much is not and is kowtowing favours hoping to get a good deal.
  - graemep 1y ago
    Yes, but the comment said "European" nonetheless. "European" describes multiple political entities each of which has similar concerns. The only one of those entities that has actually made any progress towards independence from the US is Russia.
    - prmoustache 1y ago
      I don't think UK has similar concern as the rest of the UE.
      - graemep 1y ago
        What they have in common is doing nothing effective.
- nicoburns 1y ago
  Unfortunately the current UK government has about as much backbone as a jellyfish.

fy20 1y ago

And Wolt.

JumpCrisscross 1y ago

> a wonder why these sales were approved in this climate The EU and UK have no good options at the merger level. If they block the sale, it trashes the start-up ecosystem. If they let it through, an American company buys a local one. The fundamental problem is the paucity of new-firm formation in the EU and UK, the scaling barriers they face that American compeitors don't, and the increased culture of risk-taking in America that lets its firms pay more for acquisitions. The last can't be addressed. The first two probably can by the EU. (The UK is not a viable sovereign entity in these regards.)

jjallen 1y ago
Yes as an American who’s loved in Europe for six years or so the risk taking and desire to start and do things a little differently is just night and day more than it is in Europe, generally speaking.
- bsimpson 1y ago
  I'll never forget how jealous the Dutch coffee shop owner I met was of Americans. Dude worked at a bank - respectable white collar job acc. to his Dutch friends and family. He picked up a passion for coffee and wanted to open his own shop. His loved ones all thought he was nuts to leave a stable job for a maybe. I'm sure there's a degree of that in the US, but we have a lot more "just try stuff" in our cultural myths than the Europeans tend to. Guy felt like his options were keep a job he hates or be disowned by everyone he knows.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - SkyeCA 1y ago
    Perhaps his friends and family were just being reasonable? Leaving banking to start a coffee shop is a drastic, risky move. Passion doesn't pay the bills or fund retirement and I'd legitimately wonder if someone was having a mental health crisis if they told me that was their plan.

mytailorisrich 1y ago

No-one's approval is required apart from the company's board...

louthy 1y ago
Not strictly true. In the UK, at least, a sale of a business needs to be signed off by the Cabinet Office if it is considered strategic or a security risk [1]. Unlikely, in the case of Deliveroo, but I went through this exact process and it took about a month or so to get sign off and to be allowed to sell my own company to a foreign buyer (health tech) There’s also monopoly and competition regulation that could stop a sale. [1] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-security-and-investment-act-guidance-on-acquisitions https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-security-and-investment...
- mytailorisrich 1y ago
  Does any of this apply to Deliveroo, though? The general case is that no approval is needed in the UK to sell a company to anyone. This is a "free country". This was especially a reply to the implied suggestion that there was some sort of political approval process.
  - realityking 1y ago
    The EU’s competition review will likely apply due to DoorDash’s Wolt subsidiary. The criteria is outlined here: https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/mergers/procedures_en https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/mergers/procedures_e... I doubt the EU is going to block it since AFAIk they’re not competing in any country directly against each other.
toast0 1y ago
Competition reviews are common, although I don't know enough about the two companies to know if they have high enough market share in any countries where they both operate.
- 1y ago

pzmarzly 1y ago

FWIW there still are some popular European alternatives left, such as Bolt, Glovo or JustEat

n4r9 1y ago
Tangential and anecdotal, but despite supposedly being the UK market leader JustEats is pretty terrible. I've used them twice in as many years and the experience was awful both times. Missing items, meat in vegetarian dishes, late delivery, cold food etc... . You can report issues via the app but have to select one of a generic list of issues and only get a paltry partial refund - think 33% off for an order that was stone cold on arrival. The app doesn't seem to be able to handle more than one issue per order. There is a well-hidden customer service chat but they don't seem to be any more flexible than the ap.

pkaye 1y ago

From what I read Deliveroo was founded by two Americans and they got their VC investments from the US. Its just that they focused their operations in Europe.