Cade approves unrestricted purchase of part of Shopper by iFood

BRASILIA - The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) approved this Wednesday, 26, without restrictions, the purchase of part of Shopper by the delivery company iFood . The process was reported by councilor José Levi. The court's position was unanimous.

According to Cade, Shopper offers market items and operates in 129 cities, all located in the state of São Paulo. The platform offers four models of scheduled orders for consumers: scheduled purchase, scheduled Fresh, Pet.Shopper and single purchase.

Cade's General Superintendence had already approved the deal without restrictions in early November last year. However, counselor Camila Alves understood that the case would need to be analyzed more deeply by the court, which was accepted by her colleagues.

She pointed out, for example, the need for greater detail on the sales volume of companies in the analysis of the supply structure (for example, iFood, Rappi and Uber Mercado). On Wednesday, the rapporteur classified her colleague's decision as "adequate". "The court wanted to deepen the analysis of a market that is new and in continuous innovation", said Levi.

For the rapporteur, the fact that it was an acquisition of a minority stake helped to allay a "considerable part" of the competition concerns that the antitrust agency could have. "The target company's operation is a small market share. And even in those locations where we could have more sensitive competition concerns, they are small cities or even cities with seasonal populations," said Levi.

Advisor Gustavo Augusto also noted that, although the operation finds some slightly more significant concentrations in two markets, when considering the sizes of national competitors, "there is an evident rivalry".

Alves, responsible for the decision for the case to be analyzed by the court, highlighted in his vote the need for the SG to monitor this market, especially in view of the "successive" absorption of players that can reconfigure the competitive incentives of the sector.

She recalled that SG is already conducting an analysis of a new transaction involving platforms, more precisely the acquisition of Decolar, also mentioning the recently announced purchase of Just Eat Takeaway by the owner of iFood, announced earlier this week.

"The operation appears to be part of the group's growth in the European food delivery market, although it apparently has no effect on Brazil, but it does demonstrate a strategy of expansion through acquisition. The convergence of these acquisitions suggests a tactic of strengthening the market position through the absorption of players, which reinforces the need for careful scrutiny of the competitive consequences," warned the advisor.