Amazon Gives U.K. Restaurant Delivery Service the Chop as Competition Heats Up

By Adam Clark

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) said Thursday that it is shutting down its restaurant delivery service in London as competition intensifies in the U.K. takeaway food sector.

The U.S. technology giant appears to have given up in a fiercely competitive market, where it faced local incumbents Just Eat PLC (JE.LN) and private company Deliveroo, as well as Uber Eats.

"We are closing Amazon Restaurants UK. We would like to thank all of our customers and merchants, and delivery partners for their support," Amazon said.

Amazon Restaurants is a perk for members of the retailer's Prime service. It launched in London in 2016 and listed more than 100 restaurants, but never expanded outside the capital in the U.K. In the U.S. the service is available in more than 20 cities.

London offers the largest market in the U.K.'s takeaway delivery sector, which is now worth 4.2 billion pounds ($5.37 billion) according to figures from research company NPD Group. In September, it was reported that Uber was in early negotiations to buy London-based Deliveroo, which was said to be valued at around $2 billion.

The prospect of fiercer competition has led market leader Just Eat to invest in its delivery services, having previously focused on its technology platform.

Just Eat shares at 1621 GMT were up 4.2%, the best performer in the FTSE 100, valuing the company at GBP4.08 billion.

Write to Adam Clark at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2018 11:38 ET (16:38 GMT)

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