The EU’s requirement that Prosus reduce its stake in Delivery Hero has, according to the company, led to control of the European tech player shifting to US company Uber.
Tech investment company Prosus, linked to South Africa’s Naspers, said the European Commission’s insistence on reducing its shareholding in Delivery Hero has created a “bizarre paradox,” arguing that instead of strengthening competition it has opened the door to a stronger position for US-based Uber.
Earlier, the European Commission ordered Prosus to reduce its stake in Delivery Hero as a condition for approving its acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com. However, on Tuesday a senior company lawyer said a “dominant US giant” had stepped in, raising questions about the EU’s stance on merger control.
On Monday, Delivery Hero announced that Uber holds a 19.5% stake in the company, with an option to acquire a further 5.6%. This followed Prosus selling a 4.5% stake to Uber in April and another 5% to Aspex Management this month.
Anne-Claire Hoyng, head of competition policy at Prosus, said: “Current EU merger control is handing over control of Europe’s homegrown tech to foreign players!”
In August 2025, Prosus secured approval for its takeover of Just Eat Takeaway.com after agreeing to reduce its 27.4% stake in rival food delivery platform Delivery Hero to “below a specified very low percentage” within a year.
Since then, the company has criticized the EU action as overly intrusive. On Tuesday, Hoyng said Uber’s move to become Delivery Hero’s largest shareholder “highlights a massive flaw in European merger control.”
She said Prosus was required to sell down its stake to keep the food delivery market competitive, but instead Uber — with a “massive footprint” in Europe — stepped in.
“How does forcing a European company to downsize, only for a dominant US giant to take its place, solve any competition issues?”
Hoyng said, adding that EU regulators were “missing the big picture and clearing the path for US Big Tech to buy up Europe’s tech infrastructure.”
The European Commission is currently consulting on new guidelines for merger review.
Hoyng also called for changes in the EU’s approach to mergers, saying the bloc could not “keep regulating our own innovators into a corner to the benefit of foreign giants.”
When reviewing Prosus’s acquisition last year, the Commission said the deal raised “serious doubts” over its compatibility with the internal market, citing concerns about reduced competition and potential coordination between Just Eat Takeaway.com and Delivery Hero.
Source: MLex
