The UK cleared Amazon's deal to buy a 16% stake in online food platform Deliveroo, days after Jeff Bezos was grilled by US lawmakers

• The UK's competition regulator has cleared Amazon's purchase of a 16% stake in UK food delivery unicorn startup Deliveroo, after more than a year of probing the deal.
• The probe was upended and delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the deal was provisionally cleared in June after Deliveroo said it might go out of business without the investment.
• Deliveroo more recently said its finances and underlying business had improved, and said Tuesday it was delighted by the news.
• The deal has been cleared less than week after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was grilled by US lawmakers over what they described as monopolistic behavior.

The UK's competition regulator on Tuesday cleared Amazon's purchase of a 16% stake in online delivery group Deliveroo.

The deal was cleared by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after a 15-month probe during which Deliveroo's rivals, including pizza takeaway group Domino's, lobbied against the deal claiming it would reduce competition.

It followsthe appearance of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos before US lawmakers over potentially anticompetitive behavior by the retail giant.

The CMA's final clearance was anticipated, however, given the regulator gave provisional nods in April after Deliveroo said its finances were deteriorating during the COVID-19 pandemic, and again in June.

"It has become clear that the coronavirus pandemic is having a significant negative impact on Deliveroo's business," the CMA said at the time.

The CMA said Tuesday that the startup's finances had since recovered, saying "Deliveroo could no longer be considered a failing firm"

In its press statement Tuesday, the regulator said: "The CMA's assessment has focused on how a 16% shareholding held by Amazon would affect its incentives to compete independently with Deliveroo in both restaurant delivery and online convenience grocery delivery in the coming years.

"The CMA ultimately found that this level of investment will not substantially lessen competition in either market."

But the regulator added that if Amazon acquired a bigger share in Deliveroo, it could trigger another probe.

In July filings to the CMA, Amazon appeared to leave itself room to buy more of Deliveroo, stating that such a deal would not reduce competition. But Deliveroo, in separate filings, stated there was no "unfettered path" for Amazon to buy the company.

"Today's final decision is the result of a thorough examination of this deal and the markets in which Amazon and Deliveroo operate," said Stuart McIntosh, the inquiry chair, on Tuesday.

A Deliveroo spokeswoman said: "We are delighted that the CMA has concluded its 15 month investigation and that the Amazon minority investment can now go ahead."