Singapore tribunal rejects Uber merger appeal

On 29 December 2020, the Singapore Competition Appeal Board (CAB) rejected an appeal by Uber against a Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) decision that the sale of Uber’s southeast Asian business to rival Grab infringed Singapore’s Competition Act. In September 2018, the CCCS had found that the transaction in question resulted in a substantial lessening of competition (SLC). Whilst the CCCS imposed remedies on Grab with the objective of facilitating new entry, these were deemed insufficient to address the SLC concerns fully.  (Since the parties had notified a completed transaction and Uber had exited the market by the time the CCCS reached its decision, the transaction was irreversible.)   The CCCS also imposed fines on Uber and Grab.RBB Economics was instructed by the CCCS to provide an independent expert opinion for the appeal. The CAB cited the RBB expert report and associated oral testimony in reaching its decision on the appeal.The CAB decision is available here.