Uber Technologies Inc.’s offer to buy Grubhub Inc. antagonized officials in Washington and major U.S. cities, who were already taking steps to limit the fees companies charge restaurants and regulate their treatment of workers. If a deal between the two companies proceeds, analysts said it’s likely to face antitrust scrutiny.
David Cicilline, a U.S. representative from Rhode Island who heads the House antitrust subcommittee, said the proposed deal underscores the urgency for a moratorium on most mergers, an idea supported by other Democrats. “Uber is a notoriously predatory company that has long denied its drivers a living wage. Its attempt to acquire Grubhub—which has a history of exploiting local restaurants through deceptive tactics and extortionate fees—marks a new low in pandemic profiteering,” Cicilline said in a statement.
