"While securing additional funding from other sources may have been possible before the coronavirus outbreak, the pandemic has severely limited the availability of finance for early stage businesses such as Deliveroo.
The CMA is now understood to have decided that allowing the investment would not damage competition in either the restaurant delivery sector or in grocery deliveries, where Deliveroo has been expanding its presence during the COVID-19 pandemic. "If the investment has been for a 16% stake all along, then why had it not been approved on the same basis previously?," they said.
Deliveroo handles orders for food from chains such as Byron, Pizza Express and Wagamama, and since the coronavirus outbreak has struck partnerships with food retailers such as Marks & Spencer.