By Mauro Orru and Ulrike Dauer


The European Union searched the offices of Germany's Delivery Hero SE and Spain's GlovoApp23 SA in Berlin and Barcelona, respectively, amid concerns that the bloc's antitrust legislation may have been breached.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Wednesday that officials had conducted unannounced inspections in two member states as part of a probe into the alleged agreement or practice to share national markets for the online ordering and delivery of food, groceries and other consumer goods in the bloc.

"Delivery Hero confirms that the European Commission conducted an inspection at its offices in Berlin," a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement Wednesday. "The fact that the commission carries out such an inspection does not mean that the commission has concluded that there has been an actual infringement of competition law nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself," they said.

Spain-based Glovo, of which Delivery Hero is a majority shareholder, confirmed it had an office in Barcelona searched.

"As part of its investigation, we can confirm that the European Commission has approached Glovo," a company spokesperson said. "We are confident that Glovo meets all antitrust and compliance requirements, as defined by the law and the initial investigation does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself," they said.

The EU said that carrying out such inspections doesn't mean the companies involved are guilty of anti-competitive behavior and the move doesn't affect the outcome of its investigation.

An EU spokesperson said searches were completed "a few days ago".

Uber Technologies Inc.'s Uber Eats "is not involved in this investigation," according to a person familiar with the matter. Uber has its international headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

A spokesperson for Amsterdam-based food-delivery group Just Eat Takeaway.com NV said "to the best of our knowledge, Just Eat Takeaway.com is not currently under investigation by the European Commission".


Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94 and Ulrike Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-06-22 1153ET