Grab's acquisition of Uber in Vietnam did not constitute an act of economic concentration, said VCC. (Source: tuoitre.vn)Hanoi (VNA) - Grab’sacquisition of Uber in Vietnam did not violate the country's competition law,the Vietnam Competition Council (VCC) has said.
According to a press release sent bythe Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on June 19, the acquisition did nottranslate into an act of economic concentration by obtaining ownership ofanother enterprise as stipulated in Article 17 of the Competition Law andArticle 34 under Decree No 116 on Competition.
The decision was made after theVCC held a hearing on the case on June 11 with the presence of allinvolved parties.
On June 19, the VCC announced itsdecision to reject the conclusion of the MoIT’s Vietnam CompetitionAuthority (VCA) that Grab had infringed the competition law by acquiringUber’s operations in Southeast Asia, including in Vietnam.
On March 26, 2018, Grab announced ithad acquired Uber's Southeast Asia operations for an undisclosed sum. Shortlyafter, on April 16, the VCA decided to conduct a preliminary investigationinto the purchase, saying it may have violated the Law on Competition 2004.
The VCA had said the combined marketshare between Grab and Uber in Vietnam exceeded 50 percent, which would be abreach of the regulations.
According to the ministry, if thecombined market share of the parties accounted for 30 to 50 percent in themarket before the acquisition, the firms will be fined 10 percent of theirtotal revenue from the previous financial year. If the figureexceeds 50 percent, the transaction will be overruled.
However, Grab claimed it hadacted legally and that the competition authorities have misinterpreted thescope of relevant markets when calculating its market share.-VNA
VNA
